'dit' Names

The “dit” names have interesting origins.  The English translation of “dit” is “said”.
“Dit” in French means “say” and in this context, means “called”.

A person might be Pierre Bourbeau dit Lacourse, which means he had an ancestor named Bourbeau, but he chose to use the name Lacourse instead.  So he is Pierre Bourbeau called Lacourse.  The colonists of Nouvelle France added “dit” names as distinguishers.  A settler might have wanted to differentiate their family from their siblings by taking a “dit” name that 
described the locale to which they had relocated (ex. Since the colonists followed the customs of the French feudal system, land was divided amongst the first born sons (primogeniture).   Soon there was not enough land to divide any further.
There are 2 reasons why so many variant spellings of some names.
First, most citizens of the 1600-1800 were illiterate.  Of these, a precious few could sign their names.  However, the priests, seminarians, missionaries, monks and nuns were the most educated groups in the citizenry.  Only an elite few were educated beyond what we, today,  would consider a basic elementary education.  Consequently, many clerics and notories, who under the French system of administration were charged with recording ‘vital statistics’ wrote the names as they knew them to be in France, as a precious few immigrants/colonists signed them, or as they heard them (phonetically).
This is why one sees Garau, Garrault, Gareau, Garo, etc....even amongst the sons of a particular ancestor.

The second reason for variant spellings is, As colonists migrated within Nouvelle France/New France and eventually beyond the areas of French-speaking Canada recorders of ‘vital statistics’  who were not French speakers, usually spelled names phonetically, or changed them because they didn’t have a clue how to write them.  (Ex. Thibodeaux became Thibodo or Tibodo. LeBrun  was changed to Brown, and Leblanc to White.)

Acquiring a “dit” name might also be the result of a casual adoption, whereby the person wanted to honor the family who had raised them.  
Another reason was to distinguish themselves by taking as a “dit” name, the town or village in France from which they originated. (Ex. Huret dit Rochefort)

​We have 96 ancestors with 'dit names.

Our Ancestors with 'dit' Names