Identical French and English surnames

[Ctwentysevenj]

Identical English and French surnames





The Norman brought hundreds of new names to England (then to the rest of the British Isles). Many evolved and were Anglicised with time, or disappeared in France. Here is a list of the names that have survived with the exact same spelling (though not the same pronunciation) in both countries. Some names are not Norman, just happen to exist in both countries.

Archer
Barret
Baron
Barron
Barry
Beaumont
Bennet (mostly Scottish in UK)
Berry
Bodin
Burton
Cantillon (rare in England)
Colson
Cousin
Darcy
Dillon (rare in France)
Ferry
Forest
Fort
Granger
Granville
Harcourt (rare in France)
Hardy
Havard
Hayes
Herbert
Jolly
Jordan
Lambert
Lombard
Mace
Mandeville (rare in France)
Morel (rare in Britain)
Noble
Page
Paget
Parry (mostly Welsh in UK)
Percy (rare in France)
Perry
Roche
Rose
Roy
Royal
Salmon
Samson (mostly Scottish in UK)
Talbot
Vernon


Many surnames derived from given names tend to coincide in English and French. They are not necessarily of Norman origin. Surnames in this category normally end in -s or in -son in English, so that the variant with s/son is usually rare.

Abraham
Adams (rare in France with a final 's')
Bernard (rare in Britain)
Charles
Colin
Collin
Daniel (mostly Welsh and Cornish in UK)
David (mostly Welsh in UK)
Eliot (rare in both languages)
Francis
Gilbert
Guy
Henry (mostly Scottish in the UK)
Leonard
Martin
Martins
Paul (mostly Scottish in the UK)
Richard
Robin (rare in Britain)
Roger (mostly Scottish in the UK)
Roland
Simon (rare in Britain)
Thomas
Vincent

[just]

Cant

[Ctwentysevenj]

I think Blanchard is another surname that can be found in both UK and France.

[Ctwentysevenj]

I wonder if some French with the above surnames have been mistaken for English and English for French?

[Iltirbas]

Not only because of the Normans, a fair share of French surnames were brought by the Huguenots. In the XVII century Charles II of England offered sanctuary to these persecuted French Protestants and tens of thousands of Huguenots moved across the Channel.

[Desaix DeBurgh]

My last name is hiberno-norman. In its non-bastardized French Norman form it was originally DeBurgh but it got gaelicized to De Burca and anglicized to Burke.

"Burke

This ancient and aristocratic English and Norman-Irish surname was first held by Burhred, the king of West Mercia, England, 852 - 874, and several centuries later by the original earls of Ulster and Clanricarde in Ireland. The surname is recorded in the spellings of Burgh, Burk, Burke, and Bourke, and is particularly popular in Ireland, where it has long held great state. The name is topographical, and originates from residence by, or probably the ownership of, a fortress on a hill. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th Century "burh", or the Anglo-Saxon "burg". The villages of Burgh in the county of Suffolk, and Burgh in Lincolnshire, England, are typical examples of the placename, and both provided early surname holders. The surname is distinguished by being amongst the very first ever recorded (see below), and other recordings include Geoffrey de Burk of Herefordshire, in 1272, and Hubert de Burk of Somerset in 1273. The name was introduced into Ireland by William de Burgo, of Burgh in Suffolk, who accompanied Strongbow, the earl of Pembroke, in the Anglo-Norman Invasion of 1169 and 1170. William de Burgo later succeeded him as Chief Governor of Ireland under King Henry 11 (1154 - 1189), and was rewarded with great estates. Amongst the many interesting name holders was Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797), the leading English statesmen of his day, whilst one of the first recorded passengers to the new American colonies was Jeffery Burke, who sailed on the sloop 'True Friendship" from Antigua to Virginia in 1679. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ailricus de Burc, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Suffolk. "

Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Burke#ixzz3OJQTVi3B

[Ctwentysevenj]

My last name is hiberno-norman. In its non-bastardized French Norman form it was originally DeBurgh but it got gaelicized to De Burca and anglicized to Burke.

"Burke

This ancient and aristocratic English and Norman-Irish surname was first held by Burhred, the king of West Mercia,




























England, 852 - 874, and several centuries later by the original earls of Ulster and Clanricarde in Ireland. The surname is recorded in the spellings of Burgh, Burk, Burke, and Bourke, and is particularly popular in Ireland, where it has long held great state. The name is topographical, and originates from residence by, or probably the ownership of, a fortress on a hill. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th Century "burh", or the Anglo-Saxon "burg". The villages of Burgh in the county of Suffolk, and Burgh in Lincolnshire, England, are typical examples of the placename, and both provided early surname holders. The surname is distinguished by being amongst the very first ever recorded (see below), and




other recordings include Geoffrey de Burk of Herefordshire, in 1272, and Hubert de Burk of Somerset in 1273. The name was introduced into Ireland by William de Burgo, of Burgh in Suffolk, who accompanied Strongbow, the earl of Pembroke, in the Anglo-Norman Invasion of 1169 and 1170. William de Burgo later succeeded him as Chief Governor of Ireland under King Henry 11 (1154 - 1189), and was rewarded with great estates. Amongst the many interesting name holders was Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797), the leading English statesmen of his day, whilst one of the first recorded passengers to the new American colonies was Jeffery Burke, who sailed on the sloop 'True Friendship" from Antigua to Virginia in







1679. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ailricus de Burc, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Suffolk. "

Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Burke#ixzz3OJQTVi3B

One of the main streets in Melbourne, Australia is Bourke street.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourke_Street,_Melbourne

[Rudel]

I wonder if some French with the above surnames have been mistaken for English and English for French?

Pretty much impossible due to pronunciation. It's more a case of English-speakers not thinking of those names as French.

The reverse phenomenon exists, ie Celto-British (Scottish, as well as Irish) names that made their way to France, mostly due to immigrants from the time of the Jacobite wars, but in a far more marginal proportion. Danican (derived from Duncan), Macmahon, Tuite, Walsh, Dillon, Clarke off the top of my head are such names.

On a related note, there are French names derived from first names that end in -son (-son in French is hypochoristic, it's not a sign of affiliation) that exist in the English-speaking world and could have originated here (and in some case in Germanic lands as well) but wouldn't be identified as French. Allison, Janson, Colson etc.

[Jacques de Imbelloni]

Some of those are also common in spain