indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Surname (from location)
Usage French
Meaning & History
Topographic name for someone who lived near the gates of a fortified town (and often was in charge of them; thus in part a metonymic occupational name), from Old French porte "gateway", "entrance" (from Latin porta, "door", "entrance"), with the definite article la. In French Canada it is a secondary surname, which has also been used alone since 1670. Famous bearer of this surname is French footballer Aymeric Laporte.