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Updated August 8, 2024

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Family name origins & meanings

  • Southern French and English (of Norman origin) : from a Germanic personal name of uncertain origin. The first element is probably the tribal name Gaut (see Joslin); the second is berht ‘bright’, ‘famous’.
  • The name is documented in 1665 in Trois Rivières, Quebec, with the secondary surname Desfontaines. A bearer from the Poitou region of France is recorded in 1669 in Quebec City. The secondary surname Chety is recorded in 1709.

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