Browse Submitted Surnames

This is a list of submitted surnames in which the usage is French; and the source is Nickname.

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Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.

Pellerin French
From Old French pellerin pelegrin "pilgrim" (from Latin peregrinus "traveler") applied as a nickname for a person who had been on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land or to a famous holy site elsewhere... [more]

Perdue English, Irish, French
English and Irish from Old French par Dieu ‘by God’, which was adopted in Middle English in a variety of more or less heavily altered forms. The surname represents a nickname from a favorite oath... [more]

Petitjean French
Nickname for a small or little man, or ironically a large or tall man, derived from Old French petit meaning "small, little" combined with the given name Jean 1... [more]

Pettyjohn French (Anglicized)
Americanized form of Petitjean.

Phénix French (Quebec)
French Canadian variant of Phoenix.

Phenix French (Quebec, Anglicized)
Either (i) an anglicization of French Canadian Phénix, literally "phoenix", probably originally a nickname of now lost import; or (ii) a different form of Fenwick.

Pichon French (Belgian), French, French (Swiss)

Picot French
From Old French picot "pointed object pickaxe" a nickname for someone who used such an implement.

Piednoel French
Modern (and also more common) form of Piénoel.

Piénoel French (Rare)
French surname that possibly refers to the buckled shoes that the original bearer was wearing, in which case it is derived from Old French pié meaning "foot" combined with Old French noiel meaning "buckle"... [more]

Pinson French
From Old French pinson "finch" a nickname applied to someone who whistles or sings like a finch or to a bright and cheerful person.

Platte French
From Old French plat, meaning "flat."

Poley French, German, Jewish
French: variant of Polet, Paulet, pet forms of Paul.... [more]

Portugais French, Jewish
French cognate of Portugues.

Prieur French
from prieur Old French prior "prior" a monastic official immediately subordinate to an abbot (from Latin prior "superior") hence an occupational name for a servant of a prior or an ironic nickname... [more]

Prime English, French
From latin primus or from Old French prime, both meaning "first".

Prince English, French
Nickname from Middle English, Old French prince (Latin princeps), presumably denoting someone who behaved in a regal manner or who had won the title in some contest of skill.

Prophet English, Scottish, French, German
Scottish, English, French, and German: nickname from Middle English and Old French prophete, Middle High German prophet ‘prophet’, ‘seer’, ultimately from Greek prophetes ‘predictor’, from pro ‘before’ + a derivative of phemi ‘to speak’... [more]

Prophète French, Haitian Creole
Originally a nickname (possibly ironic) from French prophète "prophet", making it a cognate of Profeta.

Proust French
From a nickname derived from French preux meaning "valiant, brave". A famous bearer was Marcel Proust (1871-1922), a French writer.

Prudhomme French, English, Norman, Medieval French
French (Prud’homme) and English (of Norman origin): nickname from Old French prud’homme ‘wise’, ‘sensible man’, a cliché term of approbation from the chivalric romances. It is a compound of Old French proz, prod ‘good’, with the vowel influenced by crossing with prudent ‘wise’ + homme ‘man’... [more]

Prue English, French
English: nickname for a redoubtable warrior, from Middle English prou(s) ‘brave’, ‘valiant’ (Old French proux, preux).... [more]

Pruitt English, French
French and English: nickname from a pet form of Old French proux ‘valiant’, ‘brave’, or ‘wise’ (see Proulx, Prue).

Questel French, Medieval French (?)
The surname Questel was first found in Normandy. Currently, Questel is the most commonly occurring last name in Saint-Barthélemy, a French island in the Caribbean Sea.... [more]

Raison English, Scottish, French
From a medieval nickname for an intelligent person (from Old French raison "reason, intelligence").

Ramage French, Scottish
From a medieval Scottish nickname for a hot-tempered or unpredictable person (from Old French ramage "wild, uncontrollable" (applied to birds of prey)).

Range German, French
German: nickname for a ragamuffin, from Middle High German range ‘naughty boy’, ‘urchin’.... [more]

Rétif French
Derived from French rétif "restive; rebellious".

Reveille French
Derived from Old French reveille "lively, vivid; alert".

Revere English, French, Judeo-Italian
French: variant of Rivière, Rivoire, or Rivier, topographic name for someone living on the banks of a river, French rivier ‘bank’, or habitational name from any of the many places in France named with this word.... [more]

Riche English, French
English: variant spelling of Rich. ... [more]

Ritchings French, German, English
This surname has at least three distinct separate origins. ... [more]

Robichaux French
An altered spelling of Robichon or Roubichou, pet forms of Robert.

Robideaux French
From the medieval given name Robardeau, a pet form of Robert.

Roi French
French variant of Rey 1.

Rondelli Italian, English, French
From the medieval name "Rondello" derived from French "rondel" meaning "go around, round" or "rondel", a French old nickname for a round, plump man.

Rosseau French, American
Variant spelling of Rousseau. Comes from the Old French word rous meaning "red", likely a nickname for someone with red hair or a particularly rosy complexion.

Rossignol French
Means "nightingale" in French, used as a nickname for person with a good singing voice, or ironically, for a raucous person.

Rouge French
Nickname for someone with a ruddy complexion.

Rougeau French
Diminutive of Rouge, a nickname for someone with a ruddy complexion.

Rouget French
Derived from the French adjective rouge meaning "red" combined with the French masculine diminutive suffix -et.

Rougeul French
“Rouge” means “Red” in French.

Saba French, Occitan
Nickname from a variant of Occitan sabe meaning "tasty, flavorsome". Compare Sabourin.

Sabat French
Nickname for a noisy, rowdy person, from Middle French sab(b)at "noise", "racket".

Sabourin French (Quebec), French (Huguenot)
Southern French surname, originally a nickname for a pleasant or amiable person, from a diminutive of sabor meaning "flavor, taste" (Old French saveur). The Huguenots brought this surname to England, and from there it may have been introduced to North America.

Sage English, French
A nickname for a person with great wisdom. From Middle English and Old French sage "wise" (see also Sage).

Saint English, French
Nickname for a particularly pious individual, from Middle English, Old French saint, seint "holy" (Latin sanctus "blameless, holy"). The vocabulary word was occasionally used in the Middle Ages as a personal name, especially on the Continent, and this may have given rise to some instances of the surname.

Saladin French
nickname for a blustering or tyrannical individual from the name of the medieval Egyptian sultan who because of his success in combating the Crusaders became demonized in French and Italian folklore as a monster second only to Herod.

Sarazen French
From a medieval French nickname for a swarthy person, or for someone who had gone on a Crusade (from Old French sarrazin "Saracen"). It was borne by American golfer Gene Sarazen (1902-99), original name Eugene Saraceni.

Sarazin French
Variant of Sarrazin.

Sarrazin French
Means "Saracen" in Old French, a name used to refer to Arab Muslims in the Middle Ages. It was probably used as a nickname for an unruly person, a person with a dark complexion, or for someone who had taken part in a Crusade.

Savant French
Nickname from savant ‘learned’, a nickname for a university graduate or a particularly knowledgeable person.

Schaal German, Dutch, French, Jewish
Either a nickname for a braggart or a market crier, (derived from Middle High German schal meaning "noise, bragging"), an occupational name for someone who made dishes for scales and vessels for drinking, (from Middle Low German and Dutch schale "dish"), a habitational name from Schaala in Thuringia or the Schaalsee lake near Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, or a topographic name for someone living on marshy land, (from Dutch schald "shallow")... [more]

Sénéchal French
Variant of Sénécal, a status name for a seneschal an official in a large household who was responsible for overseeing day-to-day domestic arrangements from Old French seneschal (of ancient Germanic origin composed of the elements sini "old" and scalc "servant").

Soule English, French, Medieval English
English: of uncertain origin; perhaps derived from the vocabulary word soul as a term of affection.... [more]

Souris French
Means "mouse" in French.

Taillefer French
From Old French tailler "to cut" and fer "iron". Cognate to Telfer and Tagliaferro.

Talon English, French
Derived from Old French talon "heel", denoting a person with a deformity or a swift person. It could also be a diminutive form of given names Talbot and Talleyrand.

Tapon French
From the old French word tapon, meaning "cork". Hence this surname was first given to corks makers.

Tardif French, French (Quebec)
From Latin tardivus, "slow". Given its unusually frequency as a family name and derivatives like Tardieu or Tardivel, it may have been a medieval given name.

Tautou French, Occitan
Derived from French tatou meaning "armadillo". It may have originally been given to a person who resembled an armadillo in some way. A famous bearer is the French actress and model Audrey Tautou (1976-).

Terrien French
Topographic 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.

Therrien French
Variant of Terrien.

Tonnoir French, French (Belgian)
Means "thunder". Originally, a nickname given to loud men. Very rare.

Toupin French, Breton, Norman
nickname from Old French toupin "spinning-top". in rare instances in the south probably from Old Occitan toupin "small earthenware pot" used as a metonymic occupational name for a potter.

Triomphe French
From French meaning "triumph". A nickname for a person who's successful.

Trouillefou French, Literature
From a compound of colloquial French trouille "fear" and fou "mad, crazy". Clopin Trouillefou is a fictional character in the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, depicted as a Romani Frenchman who is the King of Truands (the criminals and outcasts of Paris) disguises himself as a beggar begging the audience for money, disrupting Pierre Gringoire's play.

Turcat French, French (Quebec)
Means "Turkman"

Vaillant French
From a medieval nickname for a brave person (from Old French vaillant "brave, sturdy").

Vasseur French
From Old French vavasour meaning "subvassal", a historical term used to refer to a tenant of a baron or lord who also had tenants under him.

Vassie French, English
Meaning "playful or merry" for a cheerful person.

Vicaire French
Means "vicar" in old French From Latin vicarius. French cognitive of Vicario.

Vierge French
French form of Virgo.

Viray Occitan, French, Catalan
Southern French (Occitan) and Catalan variant of Occitan Verai and Veray, nickname from Occitan verai ‘honest’... [more]

Voisin French
From Old French voisin "neighbor" (Anglo-Norman French veisin) . The application is uncertain; it may either be a nickname for a "good neighbor", or for someone who used this word as a frequent term of address, or it might be a topographic name for someone who lived on a neighboring property... [more]

Wellspeak French (Anglicized)
Anglicized version of Beauparlant.

Whittum French (Rare)
Altered form of French Vieuxtemps: apparently a nickname meaning literally ‘old-time’. The surname Vieuxtemps is very rare in France; it is, however, also found in Belgium.

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