What Are Some Common French Huguenot Surnames?
A few French Huguenot surnames that remain common today include the surnames Du Plessis, De Villiers, Joubert, Le Roux, Naude and Rousseau. These surnames are most common in South Africa due to the immigration of the French Huguenots to the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th century.
Many descendants of the French Huguenots in South Africa still carry the surnames of their ancestors, which remain mostly unchanged. In addition to the Huguenot surnames, many descendants in South Africa have also adopted common French Huguenot first names, such as Francois, Jacques and Etienne.
The Sunday Times Magazine in South Africa reported in a survey carried out in 1981 that nine of the 36 most common surnames in South Africa were of Huguenot origin.
In addition to settling in the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, the French Huguenots also joined many nations around the world, including England, Scotland, Sweden, the Holy Roman Empire and a number of English colonies established in the United States. In America, surnames that have French Huguenot roots continue to be used today, although they are not nearly as common as those used in South Africa. A few of the Huguenot surnames that still exist in America are Du Pont, Revere and Laurens.
