Hi Stan, I forgot all about this one. But thanks for sharing it again it does seem to help people understand about dit names. BettyK ----- Original Message ----- From: "Stan Wickman" <swickman@twmi.rr.com> To: <MIMACKIN-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2003 1:03 PM Subject: [MIMac] dit > The following text was discovered at the web site linked below. > > http://www.rootsweb.com/~wioconto/Lakesfamilies.htm > > Respectfully submitted by BettyK (the author of the text below) > > Anyone doing French-Canadian family research will at one point or an other > discover that one or more of their ancestors had dit names and then ask, > "Where did dit names come from? When did they begin? Why is it that some > families had dit names and others did not?" Before we even start to discuss > dit names--we should make clear what dit names are not--and they are not the > following: > > A dit name is definitely not a nickname. > A dit name is positively not an alias > A dit names is assuredly not an a.k.a. (also known as). > > All three of the above tell you that a dit is not a replacement for an > existing name, i.e. used instead of. A dit name, in fact, was an extension > to an existing name, and became part and parcel of the original basic name. > The custom of having dit names first began amongst the nobles and kings. It > was a matter of positive identity. As an example: Guillaume, Duke of > Normandie--because of his many exploits in military battles and > conquests--had the name "Guillaume dit le Conquerant." Then, in 1066 when he > invaded and conquered England, the English people had difficulty in > pronouncing his French name of Guillaume and they called him "Gillium" but > that quickly became "William". His French dit name of Guillaume dit le > Conquerant then became "William the Conqueror." > > The use of dit names did not come into common usage until the late 1500's, > it was at this period in history that dit names became very popular in > France. Families of 14, 16, and/or 18 children were not uncommon. Those > large families, sedentary in nature, produced enormous numbers of > duplications of names. For the authorities it created a problem of proper > identification, there were too many people with the same first and last > names. such people as Judges, police chiefs, priests, and others in > authority had to know definitely whom they were dealing with, and this is > when dit names came into common usage. > > The custom of dit names was extended to the military. In the early 1600's, > under the French Regime, any young man entering the service was assigned a > "soubriquet" (a dit name). Usually the dit name assigned was taken from an > attribute of the man. As an example: Romain Becquet was a huge man, he was > given the dit name of La Montagne (the mountain man). Therefore he became > Romain Becquet dit Lamontagne. The custom of the use of dit names persisted > and was carried to Canada. There are some families, in the Province of > Quebec, that at this late date, are still using a "double" family name. It > was when the numbers of family members diminished that dit names began to > disappear from the scene. > > Stan > swickman@twmi.rr.com > > > > _____________________________________________________ > This message scanned for viruses by CoreComm >