What was my surname status in france?

Question

My last name is LaRue and I know it means "the street" in french but I was wondering what my family was back in the old time in France, like were we wealthy and what was the main occupation?

Answer 1

Do you even know your ancestors were French? My surname is French and I have no French ancestry at all..................... so you have to research your ancestry to find out if you have any French ancestors at all and from the records if you are lucky you will find what your ancestors did........................

http://familytimeline.webs.com this might help you get started, also has a surname page......................

Answer 2

Surnames really can't tell you that. When surname were taken in Europe during the last millennium it wasn't impossible for legitimate sons of the same man to wind up with a different surname and still each could have shared his with others with no known relationship. The purpose was not to identify a man as a member of a family but just to better identify him, frequently for taxation purposes. Too many men with the same given name in the same town or village and they had to have a way of sorting them out. So very likely there were dirt poor LaRues and wealthy LaRues.

Answer 3

How would anyone possibly know? What are the names of your LaRue ancestors who lived in France? You would have to trace your family history back to the first LaRues in your family to find out. If there are any records available.





LaRue Name Meaning and History

French: topographic name for someone who lived beside a road, track, or pathway, Old French rue (Latin ruga ‘crease’, ‘fold’), with the definite article la.



There have been LaRues in the US since the 18th century, and LaRue immigrants came from France, England and Germany.



Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

Answer 4

The surname means "the street", so it's like those people you know named River and Lake except your ancestors didn't need a boat.



I can give you a better answer than Joyce B, full of second sons of noble families, women in aristocratic families who fell in love with the assistant gardener, smugglers and one of Napoleon's colonels, who led a Hussar regiment. It wouldn't be true, just more exciting. Write of you'd like me to give it a try. For an extra 12 points I'll throw in a castle and some knights.



With really rare exception - Rothchild springs to mind, and not all of them count - you can't tell squat from a surname alone. Beggars and thieves, lords and ladies, princes and paupers, courageous men and cowards have all borne the same surname.

Answer 5

If your LaRue/La Rue/la Rue ancestors came to the USA via Canada/New France, then it is most likely they were not from the noble classes and were fishermen, farmers, and/or trades people in France and in Canada/New France. Most settlers of New France were just "regular folks" who saw an opportunity and signed up to have their passage paid to New France where they hoped to make their fortunes. Many Americans with French surnames had ancestors who entered the USA or what is now the USA via Canada. I am one of them.



In fact, among the non-noble classes in France and New France, surnames were used rather loosely and often changed or nicknames became surnames over time. The use of "dit" names for surnames was very common in France at one time and in New France. The French word "dit" means "said/called/referred to" as in "his name is John and we call ("dit") him Jack."



For example:



1680, Quebec City, New France: Jacques de Rochelle, who was called "de Rochelle" because that was the name of the city in France he came from, was given the surname "Martin" by his neighbors because Martin was his father's first name. He then was known as Jacques Martin.



1720, New France: The son of Jacques Martin, Louis Martin, moved to live near a hill and his neighbors called him Louis Martin dit Colline. "Colline" is the French word for "hill."



1760, Montreal, New France: The son of Louis dit Colline, Robert Colline (note the "dit" was dropped) moved to the city of Montreal, where there were streets and his family and former neighbors called him Robert la Rue. Eventually, Robert's neighbors called him la Rue, also.



Those are examples of "dit" names and how surnames could change from generation to generation (making researching ones French Canadian family tree a challenge, by the way.)



So, if your LaRue/La Rue/la Rue ancestors were from New France/Canada after emigrating from France, their surname may not have been anything close to "LaRue" before they left France.



Also, in Medieval France, when surnames were just starting to be used, there was the name "la rous" meaning "the red head" or a person with a flushed/red face (in Old French) and pronounced like "la rue." Today it is spelled "la roux" and still pronounced like "la rue."



You can read a bit more about French-Canadian surnames, including "dit" names here, if you wish:

http://www.afgs.org/ditnames/index1.html



Keep in mind that most of the residents of the USA and other locations where there was large scale immigration from other countries descend from normal people and not anyone who was even close to being related to a noble in the "home country." Some also "had" to leave the "home country" or were transported because of their criminal activity in the "home country."



Of course, many of those regular, normal people, even those that "had" to leave and those who were transported, worked hard and created good homes for their families in their new homeland. Their lives and work and families are a lot more important that some noble ancestry, I think.



Best wishes