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Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • French and Swiss French : compound name from gros ‘big’, ‘large’ + the personal name Jean (French form of John); it may have been applied as a nickname to distinguish between two bearers of the same personal name, denoting either the older or the larger, or simply to denote an exceptionally large (or small) man. Grosjean is also used in French as a nickname for a stupid fellow.

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