About the "dit"----- best translation is aka (also known as). In early Quiebec and Ontario there were many people who had the same surname and so many adopted a second attachment so they could be differentiated. Some of the children used the "dit" name and abandoned the original when they married. My Dumouchel ancestors lived at Detroit (fur trade?) (circa 1780?)and a map from those times shows the name Dumouchel on 80 percent of the farms. Our family became Dumouchel dit "La Roche". It's thought by some that the "dit" name was used in the army and in fur brigades to lessen confusion between individuals. Cheers, Fred G. Beal email gailbeal@vif.com