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Help[Surname] French surnames
Could anyone telle me the origin of the following french surnames:
Gaillard
Payet
Aubry
Thamks!
Gaillard
Payet
Aubry
Thamks!
1
Replies
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".
[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".
1
Aubry - possibly a variation of
AUBREY
Pronounced: AWB-ree [key]
Norman French form of the Germanic name Alberic which meant "elf power", composed of the elements alb "elf" and ric "power". Alberic was the name of the sorcerer king of the elves in Germanic mythology.
A childs smile is worth more to me than Gold
AUBREY
Pronounced: AWB-ree [key]
Norman French form of the Germanic name Alberic which meant "elf power", composed of the elements alb "elf" and ric "power". Alberic was the name of the sorcerer king of the elves in Germanic mythology.
A childs smile is worth more to me than Gold
1