The French surname of LA CROSS was a name given to a pilgrim, for someone who lived near a stone cross set up by the roadside or in a market-place. The name was originally rendered in medieval documents in the Latin form CRUCIS. In a few cases the surname may have been given originally to someone who lived by the crossroads, but this sense of the word seems to have been a late development. In other cases the surname may have denoted one who carried the cross in processions of the Christian Church. The name is also spelt CRUZ, KRETZER, KREUTE, KREUT, KRUYS and KREUZIGER, to name but a few. Surnames derived from placenames are divided into two broad categories; topographic names and habitation names. Topographic names are derived from general descriptive references to someone who lived near a physical feature such as an oak tree, a hill, a stream or a church. Habitation names are derived from pre-existing names denoting towns, villages and farmsteads. Other classes of local names include those derived from the names of rivers, individual houses with signs on them, regions and whole countries. French, or rather Norman French, was the language of the aristocracy and the upper classes in England at the time fixed surnames were being developed, it is therefore not surprising that many of our well-known family names are derived from French words. Originally only Christian or personal names were used, and although a few came into being during the 10th century, surnames were not widely used until much later, when people began to realize the prestige of having a second name. America was colonized by peoples from all over the world in a very short period of time, and mostly, in the case of French immigrants they have stayed together in Louisiana. Of the early immigrants to America the French have fared the worst in respect of their names, chiefly because of the difficulties experienced by the Americans in pronouncing them correctly. Many have been translated into English names. |
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