French Submitted Surnames
Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.
TEMPLE English, FrenchOccupational name or habitational name for someone who was employed at or lived near one of the houses ("temples") maintained by the Knights Templar, a crusading order so named because they claimed to occupy in Jerusalem the site of the old temple (Middle English, Old French temple, Latin templum)...
[more] TERRIEN FrenchTopographic name from an adjectival derivative of
terre "land", denoting someone who lived and worked on the land, i.e. a peasant. It is Americanized frequently as Landers, and occasionally as Farmer.
THEROUX French (Quebec)Southern French (Théroux): of uncertain origin; perhaps a topographic name for someone living by "the wells", from a plural variant of Occitan théron "well".
TOURVILLE FrenchThe name Tourville is a very old, and in one case, very famous name. One of the Marshall's of France was named Anne Hilarion de Cotentin de Tourville. This reads: Anne Hilarion of/from Cotentin, Comte (Count) of Tourville...
[more] TOUSSAINT FrenchDerived from the given name
Toussaint, which in turn is derived from
Toussaint, the French name for the Christian feast day All Saints' Day (celebrated on November 1st every year). The French name for the feast day is a contraction of French
tous les saints meaning "all (of) the saints"....
[more] TURNEY English, NormanHabitational name from places in France called Tournai, Tournay, or Tourny. All named with the pre-Roman personal name
TURNUS and the locative suffix
-acum.
URBAN English, French, German, Czech, Slovak, Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Hungarian, JewishFrom a medieval personal name (Latin Urbanus meaning "city dweller", a derivative of urbs meaning "town", "city").
VADEBONCOEUR French (Quebec)Means "go with a merry heart" in French. This was a secondary surname, common among soldiers, which has been adopted as a principal surname.
VAILLANCOURT French (Quebec)Possibly a variant of Valencourt. This is the surname of a noble family who probably lived near Willencourt.
VAILLANT FrenchFrom a medieval nickname for a brave person (from Old French
vaillant "brave, sturdy").
VAL Spanish, FrenchIt means valley. It comes from Britain and then moved to Aragón (Spain).
VAUX FrenchFrench, English, and Scottish habitational name from any of various places in northern France called Vaux, from the Old French plural of
val ‘valley’.
VERDIER French, Norman, EnglishOccupational name for a forester. Derived from Old French
verdier (from Late Latin
viridarius, a derivative of
viridis "green"). Also an occupational name for someone working in a garden or orchard, or a topographic name for someone living near one...
[more] VERDON FrenchHabitational name from a place so named, for example in Dordogne, Gironde, and Marne.
VERGAN French (Huguenot)Family history states that original name was "du Vergau" French Huguenot chased from France to Germany.
VERNE French, EnglishAs a French surname refers to someone who lived where alder trees grew. While the English version can mean someone who lived where ferns grew, Verne can also mean a seller of ferns which in medieval times were used in bedding, as floor coverings and as animal feed.
VERNEY English, FrenchThe surname Verney was first found in Buckinghamshire, England, when they arrived from Vernai, a parish in the arrondissement of Bayeux in Normandy.
VERRET FrenchFrom the French word verre, meaning "glass." Possibly denoting someone who worked with glass.
VERVILLE Frenchvariant of Vervelle, which Morlet derives from a word denoting the metal keeper or ring through which a bolt is secured.
VIDRINE French (Cajun)Vidrines are French Cajuns that live mostly around south central Louisiana, towns and cities like Mamou, Eunice and Ville Platte.
VILLEIN French"Used in medieval England and France. Villein is another term used for the serfs in the lowest classes of the feudal system."
VIOLETTE FrenchPerhaps a topographic name from a diminutive of
viol "path", itself a derivative of
vie "way". It is more likely, however, that this name is from the secondary surname
Laviolette "the violet (flower)", which was common among soldiers in French Canada.
VIRAY Occitan, French, CatalanSouthern French (Occitan) and Catalan variant of Occitan
Verai and
Veray, nickname from Occitan
verai ‘honest’. From southern France this name spread to northern Catalonia.
VIVIER FrenchDerived from Latin
vivarium, ultimately from Latin
vivus "alive". This name is locational relating to living near a fish pond.
XAVIER English, FrenchDerived from the Basque place name
Etxaberri meaning "the new house". This was the surname of the Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552). He was a missionary to India, Japan, China, and other areas in East Asia, and he is the patron saint of the Orient and missionaries.