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I need help with French surnames appropriate for seventeenth century housekeepers?
I have a family in my historical novel. It is set in the late seventeenth century. The name is mainly for two characters one Catherine and her foreign mother Sophia. They live in the Val in Provins France, where Catherine's father side of the family have lived in for generations. The two later relocate to a Compt's home in Albi as housekeepers. The family relocated frequently and these housekeepers with them. Mainly because Catherine was employed as a nanny and was invaluable to the Compt's family because of it.
4 Answers
- 8 years agoFavorite Answer
Rousseau
Forgive me if I am a little partial here :P
Rousseau is my father's surname. His ancestors moved in Quebec Canada from Ile-de-Rhe, Larochelle, Aunis, FR in the mid 17th century.
I cannot say if some of them have been housekeepers in those years but it is definitely a name old enough and popular enough for your novel :P
Other old names are Beaulac, Bigaud, Normandeau, Blanchet, Dubé, Rochefort, Lefèbvre, Coté, Houle, Grenier, Cloutier etc..
Source(s): Taken from my ancestors' family tree :p - LynnLv 78 years ago
http://www.ellipsis.cx/~liana/names/french/latefre... (Check out the names of the regions for French surnames. Most people's last names were really telling what town they came from back then.)
- Anonymous5 years ago
maybe that's right
