French Canadian Last Name Generator
Québécois and Acadian surnames, dit names included
Generate French Canadian last names: Québécois surnames like Tremblay, Gagnon and Bouchard, Acadian names like LeBlanc, Cormier and Robichaud, soldier nicknames like Laframboise and Vadeboncoeur, and dit names like Hudon dit Beaulieu.
About French Canadian last names
French Canadian surnames come from a small founding population. Most settlers of New France arrived in the 1600s and early 1700s, their descendants stayed and raised large families, and so a few hundred surnames spread across a whole people. Tremblay, the most common surname in Québec, goes back to one settler, Pierre Tremblay, who arrived in the 1640s. Gagnon, Roy, Côté, Bouchard, Gauthier, Morin, Lavoie, Fortin and Gagné follow it, a ranking quite unlike that of France.
Because so many neighbors shared a surname, families added a second one, the dit name (dit means "called"). It could be a soldier's nom de guerre such as Laframboise, Lespérance or Vadeboncoeur, a home province such as Langevin or Champagne, a trait, or a piece of land. Registers show both, as in Hudon dit Beaulieu or Miville dit Deschênes, and in time one branch usually kept the first name and another the second. That is why this list holds dit pairs along with the many La- and Sans- names they left behind.
Acadian names are a stock of their own from the Maritime provinces: LeBlanc, Arsenault, Cormier, Landry, Gallant, Doucet, Gaudet, Boudreau, Comeau, Melanson, Robichaud. The deportations that began in 1755 carried them to Louisiana, where many became Cajun surnames.
How to choose French Canadian last names
- Let the surname place your character. Tremblay, Bouchard and Simard are thick on the ground around Saguenay and Charlevoix, while LeBlanc, Cormier, Arsenault and Gallant point to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.
- Write saint names the Québec way, shortened and hyphenated (St-Pierre, St-Onge, Ste-Marie), and keep every accent: Côté, Bélanger and Lévesque are the correct spellings.
- For a character before about 1850 a dit pair such as Rivard dit Loranger is right for a parish register or a contract. A modern character carries only one half of the pair.
- Franco-American families in New England mill towns often translated or respelled their names, so Boisvert became Greenwood, LeBlanc became White and Roy became King. Use that for a family that crossed the border.
- Mind the inner capital. Acadian families in the Maritimes often write LeBlanc and LeBouthillier, where Québec usually writes Leblanc.
Frequently asked questions
What are the most common French Canadian last names?
In Québec the ten most common surnames are Tremblay, Gagnon, Roy, Côté, Bouchard, Gauthier, Morin, Lavoie, Fortin and Gagné. Among Acadians LeBlanc is the best known, and Cormier, Landry, Arsenault and Gallant are everywhere in the Maritimes. All of these names are in the list.
What is a dit name?
A dit name is a second surname that a family in New France used beside its first one, written with the word dit, "called", between them. Audet dit Lapointe and Gauthier dit Larouche are two examples from this list. Over the generations most families dropped one half, which is how Lapointe and Larouche became surnames in their own right.
How do French Canadian last names differ from last names in France?
The roots are the same but the frequencies are not. Names that are regional or uncommon in France, such as Tremblay, Gagnon and Bouchard, are everywhere in Québec because a few early settlers left many descendants. Dit names, the St- spellings and Acadian forms such as LeBlanc and Thériault also grew up on this side of the Atlantic.
Do French Canadian surnames change with marriage or gender?
The surnames have no male or female forms. In Québec both spouses have kept their birth surnames for legal purposes since 1981, and a child may be given one parent's surname or a hyphenated pair of both.
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All 500 French Canadian last names
A: 11 names
- Allain
- Allard
- Amirault
- Angers
- Archambault
- Arsenault
- Arseneau
- Arseneault
- Aucoin
- Audet
- Audet dit Lapointe
B: 64 names
- Babin
- Babineau
- Baillargeon
- Barrette
- Basque
- Bastarache
- Beauchamp
- Beaudet
- Beaudin
- Beaudoin
- Beaulieu
- Beauregard
- Beausoleil
- Bédard
- Béland
- Bélanger
- Belhumeur
- Bélisle
- Bellavance
- Bellefleur
- Bellehumeur
- Bellemare
- Belliveau
- Belzile
- Bergeron
- Bergevin
- Bernier
- Bérubé
- Bibeau
- Bienvenue
- Bigras
- Bilodeau
B, continued
- Blais
- Blanchette
- Blouin
- Boileau
- Boily
- Boisclair
- Boisjoli
- Boisvert
- Boivin
- Bolduc
- Bonenfant
- Bordeleau
- Bossé
- Bouchard
- Boudreau
- Boudreault
- Bouffard
- Bourassa
- Bourbeau dit Lacourse
- Bourdages
- Bourguignon
- Bourque
- Brassard
- Brault
- Brazeau
- Breau
- Brindamour
- Brodeur
- Brosseau
- Brouillette
- Brunet dit Létang
- Bujold
C: 38 names
- Cadieux
- Caissie
- Campeau
- Caouette
- Carbonneau
- Carignan
- Casavant dit Ladébauche
- Castonguay
- Chagnon
- Chalifoux
- Champagne
- Chapdelaine dit Larivière
- Charbonneau
- Charest
- Charland
- Charlebois
- Charron dit Ducharme
- Chénier
- Chevarie
- Chiasson
- Choquet dit Champagne
- Choquette
- Chouinard
- Clermont
- Cloutier
- Collette
- Comeau
- Cormier
- Corriveau
- Cossette
- Côté
- Courchesne
- Cournoyer
- Courtemanche
- Couture
- Crépeau
- Crevier
- Cyr
D: 34 names
- D'Anjou
- d'Entremont
- Dagenais
- Daigle
- Daigneault
- Dallaire
- Daoust
- Dauphinais
- Décarie
- Delisle
- Demers
- Desbiens
- Deschênes
- Descôteaux
- Desharnais
- Desjardins
- Deslauriers
- Desmarais
- Desrosiers dit Dutremble
- Dessureault
- Deveau
- Dion
- Doiron
- Doucet
- Doyon
- Drolet
- Dubé
- Dufresne
- Dugas
- Duguay
- Duhaime
- Duplessis
- Duquette
- Durocher
E: 2 names
- Émery dit Coderre
- Éthier
F: 16 names
- Fafard
- Favreau
- Ferland
- Filiatrault
- Fiset
- Flamand
- Forest
- Forget dit Despatis
- Fortier
- Fortin
- Fournier dit Préfontaine
- Francoeur
- Fréchette
- Frenette
- Frigon
- Friolet
G: 37 names
- Gagné
- Gagné dit Bellavance
- Gagnon
- Galarneau
- Gallant
- Gamache
- Gareau dit Saint-Onge
- Garneau
- Gascon
- Gaudet
- Gaudreault
- Gauthier
- Gauthier dit Larouche
- Gautreau
- Gauvin
- Gélinas
- Gélinas dit Bellemare
- Gendron
- Généreux
- Giguère
- Gingras
- Gionet
- Girouard
- Giroux
- Gobeil
- Godin
- Godin dit Bellefontaine
- Goguen
- Gosselin
- Goyette
- Gratton
- Gravel
- Grenier
- Guay
- Guertin
- Guévremont
- Guilbault
H: 10 names
- Haché
- Hamel
- Hébert
- Héroux
- Hétu
- Houle
- Hudon dit Beaulieu
- Hurtubise
- Hus dit Cournoyer
- Hus dit Millet
J: 7 names
- Jalbert
- Jarret dit Beauregard
- Jetté
- Jodoin
- Jolicoeur
- Joncas
- Jutras
L: 77 names
- Labelle
- Laberge
- Labonté
- Labrecque
- Labrosse
- Lacasse
- Lachance
- Lacharité
- Ladéroute
- Ladouceur
- Laflamme
- Laflèche
- Lafond
- Laforest
- Lafortune
- Laframboise
- Lafrance
- Lafrenière
- Lagacé
- Lajeunesse
- Lalancette
- Laliberté
- Lallemand
- Lalumière
- Lamarre
- Lamontagne
- Lamothe
- Lamoureux dit Saint-Germain
- Landry
- Langevin
- Langlais
- Languedoc
- Lanteigne
- Lanthier
- Lapensée
- Laplante
- Lapointe
- Laprise
L, continued
- Laramée
- Larivière
- Larose
- Larouche
- Latendresse
- Laterreur
- Latulippe
- Lauzon
- Lavallée
- Laverdière
- Laverdure
- Lavictoire
- Laviolette
- Lavoie
- LeBlanc
- LeBouthillier
- Lebreton
- Leduc
- Lefebvre dit Boulanger
- Lefebvre dit Descôteaux
- Légaré
- Legault
- Légère
- Lemay
- Lemay dit Poudrier
- Lemieux
- Lespérance
- Lessard
- Létourneau
- Léveillé
- Lévesque
- Limoges
- Litalien
- Lizotte
- Loiselle
- Lorrain
- Losier
- Lussier
- Lyonnais
M: 30 names
- Mailhot
- Maillet
- Mailloux
- Malenfant
- Maltais
- Marcotte
- Marcoux
- Marleau
- Martel
- Martineau
- Massicotte
- Mayrand
- Mazerolle
- Meilleur
- Melanson
- Ménard dit Lafontaine
- Méthot
- Mignier dit Lagacé
- Miron
- Miville dit Deschênes
- Moisan
- Monette
- Mongrain
- Montminy
- Montpetit
- Montreuil
- Morency
- Morin
- Morissette
- Muise
N: 8 names
- Nadeau
- Nantel
- Nault
- Néron
- Nolet
- Normand
- Normandeau
- Normandin
O: 2 names
- Ouellet
- Ouellette
P: 45 names
- Pagé
- Painchaud
- Papineau
- Paquet dit Lavallée
- Paquette
- Paquin
- Paradis
- Paré
- Parent
- Parisien
- Parizeau
- Patenaude
- Paulin
- Payette
- Péladeau
- Pellerin
- Pelletier
- Pépin
- Pépin dit Lachance
- Perreault
- Perron
- Petitclerc
- Petitpas
- Phaneuf
- Piché
- Pilote
- Pinard
- Pinet
- Pinsonneault
- Pitre
- Plamondon
- Plante
- Poitevin
- Pomerleau
- Portelance
- Pothier
- Potvin
- Poulin
- Pouliot
- Préfontaine
- Primeau
- Proulx
- Provençal
- Provencher
- Prud'homme
Q: 3 names
- Quenneville
- Quévillon
- Quintal
R: 25 names
- Racicot
- Racine
- Rainville
- Rancourt
- Rheault
- Ricard
- Riendeau
- Ringuette
- Rioux
- Rivard
- Rivard dit Lacoursière
- Rivard dit Lavigne
- Rivard dit Loranger
- Roberge
- Robichaud
- Robidoux
- Robitaille
- Rochefort
- Rocheleau
- Rochon
- Rodrigue
- Rouleau
- Routhier
- Roy
- Roy dit Desjardins
S: 40 names
- Sabourin
- Saindon
- Sanscartier
- Sanschagrin
- Sansfaçon
- Sansoucy
- Saulnier
- Sauvageau
- Sauvé
- Savard
- Savoie
- Séguin
- Séguin dit Ladéroute
- Sénécal
- Sicotte
- Simard
- Simoneau
- Sirois
- St-Amand
- St-Amant
- St-Arnaud
- St-Aubin
- St-Cyr
- St-Denis
- St-Gelais
- St-Georges
- St-Germain
- St-Hilaire
- St-Jacques
- St-Jean
- St-Laurent
- St-Louis
- St-Martin
- St-Michel
- St-Onge
- St-Pierre
- St-Yves
- Ste-Marie
- Surette
- Surprenant
T: 32 names
- Taillefer
- Tanguay
- Tardif
- Taschereau
- Tessier dit Lavigne
- Tétreault
- Tétreault dit Ducharme
- Thébeau
- Théorêt
- Thériault
- Therrien
- Thibault
- Thibodeau
- Thiboutot
- Thiffault
- Thivierge
- Tougas
- Tourangeau
- Tourigny
- Tousignant
- Trahan
- Tranchemontagne
- Tremblay
- Trépanier
- Trottier dit Desruisseaux
- Truchon dit Léveillé
- Trudeau
- Trudel
- Turbide
- Turcotte
- Turgeon
- Turmel