Here's an email exchange between Jerry Freyder and me in response to the thread about various Degruy names and spellings: Gerald Freyder wrote: Hi Renee, On the different variations of the name de Gruy, I cannot tell you the origins of Verloin, Dufourchard, etc. I can, however explain my wife's surname, and let you draw conclusions from it. Karen's maiden name is Delahoussaye. As I research farther back, I find that the first Delahoussaye in Louisiana was Paul Augustin le Pelletier sieur de la Houssaye, who was an officer in the French military, Just as Antoine Verloin de Gruy was. If you go back into France, the family name was le Pelletier. de la Houssaye appears to have been an "estate" name, because not all le Pelletier's were de la Houssayes. Some used the name le Pelletier de Chateaupoissy. Paul Augustin le Pelletier, sieur de la Houssaye's wife was Magdaleine "Victoire" Petit de Livilliers. Further research reveals that the "family" name was Petit. Paul Augustin's grandfather was Nicolas le Pelletier Lord de la Houssaye. His great grandfather was Nicolas le Pelletier Lord de Chateaupoissy. An educated guess on my part would be that Antoine de Gruy's "family" name is Verloin. All the other additions and variations would probably be estate names. I would search for Verloin first. Perhaps I will do a little looking myself. Jerry Freyder From Renee in response to Jerry: Well this is very interesting. I've been spending my early morning researching Huxelle.... Of all the Degruys, I've seen that name [Huxelle] only once.... so I've been surfing the net for all variations.... trying to figure out why he was named Pierre Huxelle DeGruy. [by the way does your wife have a "Guerin" line? There was one site in which Guerin and Huxelle appeared together.] I have a similar [naming] problem on my maternal side....which is also driving me nuts: my GG Grandfather... who is found in various LEGAL documents with his name written....Pierre or Lapeyre Durand..... and Durand Lapeyr, Durand Lapeyre.... etc. I can see how recorders of various certificates, census records... would get names confused, misspell, etc. But Legal Documents? [Wouldn't they be a little more careful with those????] All along I have my G Grandmother listed as Leonie Durand [marriage names: Witzman, Kelley]. However in her mother's legal succession all the names have been flipped around and she and all her daughters appear as Lapeyres. So now it's Leonie Durand Lapeyre. This is so frustrating. Who were they....? Durands or Lapeyres? Lapeyre was a butcher in New Orleans, so I doubt he had any kind of "estate" in France. By the way, you aren't enrolled in Degruy-L, so may I copy your response [below] to the list so they can benefit from your expertise? In a way, taking the estate name makes a certain sense. Centuries before the internet, an estate name would certainly have more recognition than a personal last name. Thanks... I always enjoy hearing from you. Renee ------------------------------------------------------------------------