A French-Canadian surname, or a forgotten second surname, can be an important clue for Americans investigating whether they may qualify for Canadian citizenship by descent under Canada’s new citizenship law.
Why French-Canadian families often had two surnames
For much of the last 300 years, many French-Canadian families used two surnames at once through a custom known as the “dit name.”
The word dit means “called” in French. It linked an original family surname to a second name, such as:
- Miville dit Deschenes;
- Pelletier dit Bellefleur;
- Roy dit Desjardins.
A person baptized under one surname might later appear in records under the other. A family with the name Homand dit Francoeur could be recorded as Francoeur in one place, Homand in another, or even Oman.
Library and Archives Canada traces the practice to France, where families with the same surname in the same village needed ways to distinguish themselves.
Dit names could come from different sources, including:
- a trade;
- a hometown;
- a physical trait;
- an ancestor’s first name.
Both surnames often appeared in records until around the 1850s. After that, many families kept only one of the two names. The choice of which name survived shaped how later family trees appeared.
How French-Canadian names changed in the United States
Between 1840 and 1930, hundreds of thousands of French Canadians left Quebec for the United States. Many moved down the Richelieu Valley into Vermont and northern New York.
During and after migration, names often changed. Some were translated into English, while others were written phonetically by English-speaking clerks or priests.
| Modern surname | French-Canadian name it may hide | How it changed |
|---|---|---|
| King | Roi | Translated; roi means king |
| Black | Lenoir | Translated; noir means black |
| Shackett | Chouquette | Written phonetically |
| Bostwick | Bousquet | Written phonetically |
| Mitchell | Michaud | Written phonetically |
This means a surname that looks English today may still point back to a Quebec-born ancestor.
Why this matters for Canadian citizenship
Canada’s new citizenship law removed the generational limit to Canadian citizenship by descent. As a result, many Americans are discovering that a Canadian-born ancestor may make them Canadian citizens.
A surname by itself does not prove citizenship. It is only a starting point.
The key issue is whether the person can document a line of descent from a Canadian ancestor. A dit name, translated surname, or phonetic spelling may help connect records that otherwise appear unrelated.
Surname lists can also undercount Americans with French-Canadian ancestry. Names such as Tremblay and Ouellet may clearly indicate Canadian roots, but dit names and translations can hide those roots. A family that left Quebec as Roy dit Desjardins and later used only Roy may not appear clearly in French-surname counts, even though the Canadian line remains in the records.
How to investigate a possible French-Canadian line
A dit name does not make anyone a citizen, but it can point to an ancestor worth researching.
Useful steps include:
- ask older relatives where the family came from;
- listen for French first names such as Jean, Pierre, Marie, and Joseph, even behind an English surname;
- search both possible surnames separately and together;
- check phonetic and translated spellings;
- search Quebec parish, census, and notarial records, where both halves of a dit name may appear.
People with family roots in New England, upstate New York, or the Upper Midwest may have reason to watch for names that look English but were translated, shortened, or phonetically recorded from French.
If one person qualifies through a Canadian ancestor, siblings usually trace to the same ancestor. Cousins, their children, and other descendants of that same ancestor may also be able to investigate the same line.
Processing delays and record demand
Since Bill C-3 took effect, Quebec’s archives have reported a 3,000% increase in requests for vital records, most of them from Americans.
Citizenship by descent applications now have a 15-month processing period.
The practical challenge is not recognizing a surname alone. Applicants need records connecting each generation back to the Canadian ancestor.
Names such as Roy, Desjardins, Oman, King, Shackett, Mitchell, and Michaud may look unrelated in modern American records. In Quebec parish records, some may connect to the same family line.
For many Americans, the surname used today may be only half the story. The forgotten French-Canadian name may be the clue that helps identify the Canadian ancestor.
Source article: www.cicnews.com
