DIT names

[Leo L]

How do most people handle DIT names in Reunion? For instance, how would you input Nicolas Beaulieu dit Montpellier in your database? I've been inputting with a hyphenated family name such as Nicolas Beaulieu-Montpellier. I see some people using the / instead of the hyphen, such Beaulieu/Montpellier. Ideas? Thanks.

[Mark]

One thing that’s important to note here is that forward slashes (/) have a special use when it comes to names in GEDCOM files. If there’s any chance you might want to export your data to a GEDCOM at some point in the future, I would recommend against forward slashes in name fields.

HTH

[Blaise A. Darveaux]

My response to you may be completely unsatisfactory, but I have struggled with dit names for many years. I have tried doing what you do, but that seems to mess up some of the Check for Duplicate algorithms that are used, so I don't do that anymore. Since the pandemic started I have added, by hand, over 26,000 French names starting with the couple that came from (usually) France and their entire line as far as my source takes them (Tanguay's compilation of church records of French Canada 1600-1800.)

Dit names are alternate names that people used instead of their real names because there got to be too many people in a certain local with the same name. Sometimes the dit names can be completely different than the real name; other times it seems to be a slight variant. Sometimes the dit name is spelled different but SOUNDS the same when spoken in French. For any real name, there can many dit names associated with it, and then to make matters worse, when you look up any of the dit names there can be additional dit names associated with the first dit name, and on and on, so it quickly becomes an untenable situation from a practical stand point.

The way I handle them now is to ignore them OR to put dit names in the notes field, simply as "dit Montpellier" (to use the name you gave) and I use just their real names in their name field. Yes, it is more difficult to search for those dit names there, but at least they can alert the viewer what else to search for.

[bbousquet]

I record them as they are, in the last name field (i.e. Beaulieu dit Montpellier). With a tree that's 97% French Canadian, you get used to them. Hyphenated surnames are a more recent trend and are (mostly) a different thing.

[Dan MacDonald]

I also record them as they are.

In my research they show up for both given and surnames. For given names, I find a "dit" nickname easier to search and see if it is included in the first name field instead of under notes or alias. This is especially true where only a handful of given names are used over and over again. Having Joseph dit Grand Couette in the first name field really makes the person stand out when there are a ton of Josephs in that line and often more than one alive at the same time.

Also, "dit" names in the surname didn't always carry on through later generations as a hyphenated name likely would. It might have referred to that individual only, much like a true nickname. Or, some descendants might have stuck with the original surname, while others adopted the "dit" name as their surname. Michel Haché dit Gallant comes to mind - some descendants went by Haché and some by Gallant, but none by Haché-Gallant. As Benoît stated, hyphenated names aren't the same thing as "dit" names.

[bcallais]

Hi all,

Pourquoi ne pas faire ceci:
Utiliser le fait : Surnom/alias et le renommant "Dit" et en modifiant son affichage court dans la fenêtre préférence des champs individu et en gardant son code GEDCOM,
OU BIEN , créer un nouveau champs "dit".
Dans les préférences de vue famille, couple, A l'intérieur des boutons du couple, ajouter l'affichage de ce champs
Comme c'est un fait, les recherches, affichage, tri, etc peuvent fonctionner


May be you can use the fact Nickname/alias by naming it "dit" and changing the fact preference (short description) by "dit", or create a new one.
then add this fact on your person, and add it in the family view preference, on button preference

Capture d’écran 2022-02-11 à 15.13.40.png

[bbousquet]

Hi all,

Pourquoi ne pas faire ceci:
Utiliser le fait : Surnom/alias et le renommant "Dit" et en modifiant son affichage court dans la fenêtre préférence des champs individu et en gardant son code GEDCOM,
OU BIEN , créer un nouveau champs "dit".
Dans les préférences de vue famille, couple, A l'intérieur des boutons du couple, ajouter l'affichage de ce champs
Comme c'est un fait, les recherches, affichage, tri, etc peuvent fonctionner


May be you can use the fact Nickname/alias by naming it "dit" and changing the fact preference (short description) by "dit", or create a new one.
then add this fact on your person, and add it in the family view preference, on button preference

Capture d’écran 2022-02-11 à 15.13.40.png

Il y a une distinction importante à faire entre un surnom/alias au niveau du prénom et les noms "dit" utilisés en Nouvelle-France.

[bcallais]

Il y a une distinction importante à faire entre un surnom/alias au niveau du prénom et les noms "dit" utilisés en Nouvelle-France.

Bonjour,

la demande initiale de Léo, le sujet GEDCOM n'était pas indiqué.

Ce que je propose donc c'est de créer un nouveau "fait" au niveau des préférences des champs de l'individu et de le nommer "Dit", on pourra ainsi le manipuler et l'inscrire dans les fiches, les tableaux, etc. Les rapports seront moins flexible sur ce point, le champs "dit" ne pouvant pas se coller au nom.
Capture d’écran 2022-02-12 à 18.02.44.jpgCapture d’écran 2022-02-12 à 18.58.47.jpg

Je ne connais pas bien la Nouvelle-France, bien qu'y ayant habité, mais les noms -dit- se rapprochent assez des "surnoms" (GEDCOM NICK) je pense.
Ci dessous les balises de la version5,5
ALIA {alias} : indicateur qui associe des informations différentes sur une personne.
NICK {nickname} : surnom

[bbousquet]

Bonjour,

la demande initiale de Léo, le sujet GEDCOM n'était pas indiqué.

Ce que je propose donc c'est de créer un nouveau "fait" au niveau des préférences des champs de l'individu et de le nommer "Dit", on pourra ainsi le manipuler et l'inscrire dans les fiches, les tableaux, etc. Les rapports seront moins flexible sur ce point, le champs "dit" ne pouvant pas se coller au nom.
Capture d’écran 2022-02-12 à 18.02.44.jpgCapture d’écran 2022-02-12 à 18.58.47.jpg

Je ne connais pas bien la Nouvelle-France, bien qu'y ayant habité, mais les noms -dit- se rapprochent assez des "surnoms" (GEDCOM NICK) je pense.
Ci dessous les balises de la version5,5
ALIA {alias} : indicateur qui associe des informations différentes sur une personne.
NICK {nickname} : surnom

Un surnom, ça passe quand il s'applique à un seul individu. Les noms "dit" s'appliquaient à un grand nombre d'individus d'une branche de la famille. On peut, par exemple, prendre l'exemple des Martineau de ma conjointe: quand le 2e colon du même nom est arrivé en Nouvelle-France, son nom est devenu Martineau dit Saintonge (car il venait de l'ancienne province de Saintonge). Au fil des décennies/siècles certains ont gardé le nom Martineau et d'autres Saintonge (en fait, St-Onge dans la majeure partie des cas, ce qui est drôle car il ne s'agit pas d'un Saint proprement dit). Au sein de la même branche on peut donc trouver des Martineau, des Saintonge (ou St-Onge), des Martineau dit Saintonge et même des Saintonge dit Martineau. Ces noms ont persisté jusqu'à la fin du 19e siècle, si je ne me trompe, quand le gouvernement a exigé que ce soit standardisé. Voilà pourquoi il est beaucoup plus logique, à mes yeux, d'inscrire le nom complet dans la case nom de famille.

[kyuck]

Would it be possible to get these inputs in English?

[bbousquet]

Would it be possible to get these inputs in English?

I was basically saying that the Nouvelle-France "dit" surnames are not a good fit for the Nickname/AKA field in Reunion as they apply to multiple individuals (unlike a typical nickname which is usually tied to a specific individual). I store them in the last name field, especially as they tend to change (order or spelling) over the years/centuries.

[kyuck]

I put them in the Name field because if you are searching for a name they will all show up.
If the spelling changes, I put both spellings in Name.

[John Bayle]

This is in regard to dit Names. It's been a long time since I've posted on this site, so I hope I've got it right!

I've had French Canadians in my Genealogy Database for about 20 years now. Reunion offers a wonderful way to deal with "dit names". That way (or facility) is to use the name's Suffix Title field. I find this to be very simple to do and works very very well. So for example one of my Great Grandfathers on my mother's side is a fellow by the name of Justinien Biroleau dit Lafleur. He is also known as Justin Lafleur. That was how my mother knew him. So in his main name entry I put "Justinien" in the First & Mid Name field. Then I have entered "Biroleau" in the Last Name field. Finally I put "dit Lafleur" into the Suffix Title field. This causes the name "Justinien Biroleau dit Laflur" to be on the "person button" on the "family page" and "Justinien Biroleau dit Lafleur" to be printed on all reports and trees as desired. The other name of "Justin Lafleur" I simply enter as an aka/alias name with the obviously different source from the "primary name".

[Blaise A. Darveaux]

This shows the difficulty with dit names. In my own research using Tanguay's compilation of church records I literally stumbled upon this after reading John's post above. It show's a list of 65 other names that someone named Lafleur could have been recorded as. And one of them has an additional dit named associated with it. (Voy. in French translates to "see" in English.)

In other words, if you are searching for someone with the last name of Lafleur, you might have to search for all these other names to find the person you want.

Lafleur.png

[John Bayle]

Yes, I agree with Blaise. "Lafleur" is a common dit name in French-Canadian genealogy. One really want's to have the "root" Surname to be sure of the line one is chasing/researching.