On the Quebec Research List Home Page, there some information on "dit" names and their origins. There is also a list of "dit" names. Here is the paragraph on this (an example): "Another problem concerns the use of “dit” names, so called because they are introduced by the French word “dit’ (called). “Dit” names have many origins. Many were originally the “nom de guerre” adopted by the troops in a specific military company. The name “Lafleur” is the most common of the “noms de guerre”, associated with about 220 family names. There are nicknames associated with a physical characteristic, as “Legrand” or with a place of origin, as “Normand”, or the location of a property, as “Lapointe”. In some cases, the mother’s family name is associated with the father’s, as Jacques Couillard dit Després. As for our exemplar couple, the husband has a dit name: Guillaume-François Baret dit Courville, while his spouse is known simply as Jeanne Marie-Louise Gagné. Their granddaughter Marie-Josephe, spouse of Pierre-Amable Baret dit Courville is known sometimes as “Marie-Josephe Gagné”, sometimes as “Marie-Josephe Catin”. But that, as they say, is another story! Introduction composed by Fr. John L. Sullivan - owentagart@aol.com Here is the link - http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~unclefred/DitNames.html --------------------------------- Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell? Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.