Let's not forget that the close connection between Cornwall & Brittany, especially sharing an common language, meant that there was a constant movement between the two places as shown by the Celtic Saints and the shared stories of the Arthurian Cycles. The  Bretons claim that Merddyn (Merlin) sleeps in the Forest of Broceliande and the country is sprinkled with Arthur's Cave/Stone/Pool etc. I always felt at home travelling in Brittany with so many place-names familiar to me from Kernow. A number of Breton warlords came over with William in 1066 and appear to have been well-received in Cornwall, some being granted land. The surname 'Le Breton' appears in various records of the 16th century & earlier. To regard the Bretons of the Conquest period as 'French' is probably equal to regarding the Cornish as 'English' ! Oll an gwella, Stephen >________________________________ >3. surnames and given names in Cornwall (Phoebe) >  Message: 3 >Date: Sat, 01 Dec 2012 14:03:43 +1100 >From: Phoebe <[email protected]> >Subject: [CORNISH-GEN] surnames and given names in Cornwall >To: [email protected] >Message-ID: <[email protected]> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > >...And when looking particularly at Roberts I realised that Robert is >neither a cornish nor an english name: it's french. Most or all the >surnames in Cornwall based on men's given names seem to be french, >though a mixture of norman and parisian forms. Why? Did the ancestors of >all these families cross to Cornwall with (or follow) the Conqueror? Did >some of them originate in Paris, not Normandy? William handed big chunks >of Cornwall to his supporters, but I don't know that these were >necessarily all  born in Normandy. > >Any takers on these questions? > > >Phoebe > >