While I was going through some archives I discovered my grandfather[deceased] and his brothers had french middle names and rang up a close relative of his.
She told me my grandfather was of french descent that our surname was actually De Fontaine,not the dutch [van rxxxx] surname I have always had,she said my g.g grandfather had changed it.
How do I go about confirming IF this is true??
2006-12-30 12:24:21 · 6 answers · asked by rusalka 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
do you run away from the slightest threat. If you do you will know you have french blood.
2006-12-30 12:40:17 · answer #1 · answered by brendashubby35 3 · 1⤊ 3⤋
If your close relative knows what county (city if she doesn't know the name of the county) he lived in when he made the name change & approximately the year he did so, you could contact the county clerk's office in that county.
If he moved around, as our ancestors were prone to do, you could check with each county.
If you phone them, give them the date you think the change took place. They'll tell you right away if their records go back that far; that way you'll save time.
Was your gg grandfather born in the U.S? If not & you know when he immigrated, that would narrow the range of years to search or if you have a marriage record to see what name was on that record. Anything which might narrow the yrs to search. So lets hope your relative has a good memory & some helpful hints for you.
2006-12-30 15:50:45 · answer #2 · answered by Judith 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, i'm not sure i understood everything ., but i can tell you that De Fontaine is a real french name.
I hope it will help.
Do you have any clue on the place of birth of your "potentials" ancestry in France, it could be helpfull to search via the web.
2007-01-02 06:08:43 · answer #3 · answered by pierre 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You'd have to trace tha particular ancestral line. Exactly how to get started doing that is in the resolved questions. You'd need to find the name change, somehow, which might prove difficult.
If you could find the ancestor in question on three census entries, and he said his parents were born in France on at least two of them, that would be good enough, I'd say.
2006-12-31 04:39:18 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
you need to go on ancestery.com where you can get your linage back to the 1600's if they didn't change it, have all the information first so it won't take as long where when places country,names sur namres dates. anything that would connect yoursef to your g/f line best wishes amy y
2006-12-30 12:44:07 · answer #5 · answered by amy y 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well u can ask family or u can get ur DNA or genes checked
2006-12-30 13:00:05 · answer #6 · answered by candy gurl 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋