OK, list here's the explanation of dit from skip and Carolyn
Subject: Fwd: Dit Names
Date: Sat, 6 Nov. 1999 16:43:20 -0800 (PST)
From: skip murray <imaracingmom(a)yahoo.com>
To: ncarrier(a)dreamscape.com
Hi Neal,
Here is a better explanation of the meaning of dit
names than the short explanation I gave to the Carrier
List. This info was e-mailed to me by my Carrier
Cousin - Carolyn Racicot from Canada. She has my
family tree back to the 1600's!!! Don't know if the
list would find this info interesting or not.
Skip
Note: forwarded message attached.
=====
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Kim "Skip" Place
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http://raogk.rootsweb.com "
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Subject: Dit Names
Date: Sat, 6 Nov. 1999 16:14:52 -0500
From: "C. Racicot" <cracicot(a)oanet.com>
To: "Skip Murray" <imaracingmom(a)yahoo.com>
CC: "Marge Place" <mugzy(a)infotelcom.com>
Hi Skip & Marge
Thought you might enjoy this article.
Carolyn
The dits names
This article is divided into 3 parts:
What are dit names
How to deal with them
Other name variations
What are dit names
A "dit name" is an alias given to a family name. Compared to other alias
or a.k.a. that are given to one
specific person, the dit names will be given to many persons. It seems
the usage exists almost only in
France, New France and in Scotland where we find clans or septs.
I have a photocopy of a 1471 land record rented by my ancestor
Barthelemy Hugon dit Jarret which is
called Bartelemeo Hugonis alias Jarreti in this record and some others.
There is another Jarret in the
area at this time with another dit name, so we can say the dit name was
given, in that case, to
distinguish the 2 different families. Barthelemy was living in Dauphine,
like many soldiers of Carignan
Regiment who came here in 1665-1668. While they were not the only ones
nor the first to use dit names
in New France, it seems those soldiers are responsible for the great
extent the dit names reached in
Quebec compared to France, Acadia or Louisiana . This would explain, for
example, why there is a
concentration of families with dit names around Lac St-Pierre where
seigneuries belonged often to retired
officers from Carignan regiment (Vercheres, Sorel, Contrecoeur, etc. to
name a few).
Among some reasons of dit names, we find:
Surname used in the army (can also be combined with another reason)
Place of origin (Breton, Langlois, Langevin, etc.)
Land owned or inhabited by an ancestor (Beauregard is an example)
The full name of the ancestor (Gaston Guay -> Gastonguay ->
Castonguay)
The first name of an ancestor (Vincent, Robert, etc.)
Keeping the original name (in local language) during the process of
standardizing names to
French
Miscellaneous
How to deal with them
A generic person's name is built like this:
Joseph Jarret dit Beauregard
Joseph is the first name
Jarret is, in this case, the patronym or ancestral family name
Beauregard is, in this case, the dit name
After some generations, it is no more obvious what is the specific
patronym or dit name, so we will find
Beauregard dit Jarret. Moreover, it is also possible both family and dit
names are switched the
first time someone used a dit name.
In the records, dit names are actual alias, that is, they can be legally
used to replace the original
patronym. Because of this, one will find the same person known as:
Joseph Jarret
Joseph Beauregard
Joseph Jarret dit Beauregard
Joseph Beauregard dit Jarret
What this means? If you are looking for the marriage of a Joseph
Beauregard married with Jeanne
Joachim, you may find it as Joseph Jarret married with Jeanne Laverdure
(a dit name for
Joachim).
Other name variations
Dit names are not the only method of combining or changing family names.
There are also errors like switching first name and family name in one
record (for example, I have a
Richard VINCENT who is actually Vincent RICHARD), changing a first name
to a family name (there is a
Claude VINCENT who is Claude-Vincent MENNESON). The only difference with
dit names in this case is
that the combination happened only one time. There are spelling
variations so that a Bourgault would be
name Beauregard in a record. There is also a modern concept in Quebec
that consists in giving both the
names of the father and the mother.
I proposed to use the following convention to distinguish usage:
= for specific dit names (Beauregard=Jarret)
/ for spelling variation (Jarest/Charest)
- for other kinds of name combinations (modern combining of names)
I would suggest this when using standardized names (i.e. not names as
found in the record, but names
that a searcher would look for) in databases when you are building them
in view of exchanging them. You
should also write the actual name as found in the record and good
genealogy softwares should allow for
both names (standard name for search and actual name for printing of
charts). If your software supports
one name, I suggest to write the standardized name and to put the name
read in the record in a note; if it
supports many names, the first name would the standardized name and the
next would be alternatives.
How to find what shall be the standardized name? Micheline Lécuyer, who
worked with René Jetté to
produce a list of dit names ("Répertoire des Noms de Famille du Québec"
des Origines à 1825)
suggests, when the name is not the Jetté's dictionary, to use a phone
book (usually Montréal or Québec
City) and to select the more common form.
Version française
Last update: Dec. 19th, 1995
--
Neal F. Carrier
Holland Patent, NY
WAGS #776
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