How do I find the history of my last name?

Question

I have a Frech last name, but I would like to know about a site where I can find its history.

Answer 1

Hey iDayana,

Try Swyrich.com and Familysearch.com, you may find it in one or both places. Then you can get more into your question and research your family tree to see how your name connects back to the ancestors of origin.

Answer 2

It helps to look at this from 2 vantage points...
there are a number of websites that claim to tell you where your last name comes from. For many common names, it is accurate in a very broad and vague sense. Less common names (including those that are current but are actually variations) won't be there. Example in my research is Dolphay... which is simply the garbled American version of Dauphinais.
The other perspective (the one I personally prefer) is that NAMES don't have "history"... people do. For instance.. your surname might have come from France in the 1300's, but your ancestors migrated elsewhere.. ie Canada, Phillipines...anywhere.
Finding out about yourself would involve tracing your own lineage (including your mom, grandparents, etc). All your ancestors are part of YOU. It is NOT as complex as people think.. you start with you... look at EACH ancestor as an individual, collecting documented facts about their birth/death, life events, etc, then putting it together in a "family" tree. I always suggest www.cyndislist.com as a great place to find thousands of resources (including how to files). Just browse through the site.. it is fascinating to see what is out there. And yes, there are sites that (for a fee, of course) want to offer you your neatly packaged family history... but that takes all the fun out of the search. They can be useful, but not necessary at all.

Answer 3

go to ancestry.com enter your name start a family tree, scroll down and it will say "origin of name" double click on that and it will tell where your name originated from

Answer 4

Just try and Google it.