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Gaillard:
[translation from French from the site http://www.jtosti.com/noms/g1.htm

This name is often considered as a nickname for someone vigorous, courageous (Celtic origin from galia). But it should mainly be seen as a personal name of Germanic origin, composed of the roots gail ("cheerful") and hard ("hard, tough"). A certainty is that it was in the Middle Ages a very spread firstname from Italy to Spain. The surname has the most hits in the Isère departement. The form Gaillarde is a matronym, from a name of a locality (La Gaillarde, name of numerous places).

Payet:
[translation from the same site]

One of the most spread names in France, especially in and around Lyon. It can be found in the Savoie region under Payot. The explanation with the verb payer, evoked by Dauzat, is certainly not the solution for such a numerous patronym. It might be a diminutive of Paya (see that name). The small dictionary of Félix Fenouillet (Surnames in Savoie) gives for Payot the meaning of "farmer" from paysan, which applies for Payet as well. This solution seems to me very tempting. Variant of Payot (or matronym): Payotte.

NB.: i think this person uses the terms patronym and matronym a bit in the wrong sense.

Paya:
from French païen, a name for a baptist, from Latin paganus, meaning "he who inhabits a pagus", the latter meaning "rural area". Or possibly from paysan meaning "farmer".

• French surnames - Carl Bettfuehr  Nov 6 2005, 8:26:29 AM
  • Re: French surnames - Menke  Nov 7 2005, 5:10:42 AM
  • Re: French surnames - raindancing  Nov 6 2005, 5:05:41 PM