Canadian last names are fascinating. You probably know that at least one of the following 7 facts about Canadian last names is true, but which one? Read on to find out!
1. The most common first name in Canada is John, followed by David and Michael. This means that it’s fairly likely there will be more Johns than any other name in your workplace or school!
2. In Quebec, a person may have up to three family names (e.g., Jean-Paul Tremblay). A combination like this would translate roughly into “John Paul from the hill.” Some people might even call themselves something else entirely (Jean-Pierre) as their second surname instead of Tremblay.
You can also find the full blog post here. Read on to learn about more things you may not know about Canadian last names!
There’s a lot of interesting and surprising facts about Canadian last names that people don’t usually talk about, but it doesn’t hurt to read up every now and again! Here are seven such fascinating facts we found in our research:
The most common first name for Canadians is John, followed by David and Michael. This means there will probably be more Johns than any other name at your workplace or school. In Quebec, a person could have three family names (e.g., Jean-Paul Tremblay). A combination like this would translate roughly into “John Paul Tremblay.” In Quebec, a person could have three family names (e.g., Jean-Paul Tremblay). A combination like this would translate roughly into “John Paul Tremblay.” The most common Canadian last name is Smith. It’s estimated that more than one in five Canadians share the same surname! The word Canada comes from an Iroquois word meaning “village” or “settlement”. This means that you may be able to trace your ancestry back to First Nations ancestors if you’re lucky enough to have such roots on either side of your family tree. Alberta was named after Queen Victoria’s husband, Albert Edward; Saskatchewan came from the first two letters of Prince Arthur
