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Do names such as Smith, Jones, Williams, Turner, etc. rank among the most common surnames of Anglophones in Montreal? Or do the most common originate in the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe?
Anglophones are just as likely if not more to have Italian and Greek surnames, and also Ashkenazi Jewish surnames ending in -man (think Feldman) or -berger.
Ironically, while I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a majority, a fairly decent chunk of people with names from the British Isles are actually francophones these days. This is especially true of people with Irish names.
Anglophones are just as likely if not more to have Italian and Greek surnames, and also Ashkenazi Jewish surnames ending in -man (think Feldman) or -berger.
Ironically, while I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a majority, a fairly decent chunk of people with names from the British Isles are actually francophones these days. This is especially true of people with Irish names.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
Anecdotally, the most common type of last name in my Anglo West Island high school was actually French. Plenty of French Canadian ancestry among Anglos, going back a long time. After that, probably Italian, then Jewish. There were plenty of British Isles surnames though, Stewart, Stait, Murphy, Smith etc.
Anecdotally, the most common type of last name in my Anglo West Island high school was actually French. Plenty of French Canadian ancestry among Anglos, going back a long time. After that, probably Italian, then Jewish. There were plenty of British Isles surnames though, Stewart, Stait, Murphy, Smith etc.
Yes, that's definitely true.
Among the heads of the former anglo rights groups Alliance Quebec over the years were people with last names like Hamelin and Decarie. (Note no accent on the first E.)
This was definitely the case when I was a kid and I remember noticing that.
The trendline in the anglo community and especially its most visible reps though does seem to be shifting towards more names that are Ashkenazi, Italian and Greek, and perhaps fewer French Canadian* and British Isles surnames.
*I think that part of this is that kids born of one anglo and one franco parent are less likely to identify with the anglo minority, and are more likely to go with the flow and not really demand services in English, speak French with their friends and when out and about, etc.
I've read about this in studies including by Gary Caldwell who is a bit of a scholar of the anglo community.
If so, it mirrors what generally goes on with many francophone kids outside Quebec.
Anecdotally my kids have a number of friends who are like this. They are definitely very good in English and speak it with their anglo parent, they watch TV and movies in English, and some of them even go to English CEGEP after high school, but the rest of their lives: hanging out with friends (even in the cafeteria at the anglo CEGEP sometimes), part-time jobs, participating in society in general (ie coaching swimming), dating, is mostly all in French.
Among the heads of the former anglo rights groups Alliance Quebec over the years were people with last names like Hamelin and Decarie. (Note no accent on the first E.)
This was definitely the case when I was a kid and I remember noticing that.
The trendline in the anglo community and especially its most visible reps though does seem to be shifting towards more names that are Ashkenazi, Italian and Greek, and perhaps fewer French Canadian* and British Isles surnames.
*I think that part of this is that kids born of one anglo and one franco parent are less likely to identify with the anglo minority, and are more likely to go with the flow and not really demand services in English, speak French with their friends and when out and about, etc.
I've read about this in studies including by Gary Caldwell who is a bit of a scholar of the anglo community.
If so, it mirrors what generally goes on with many francophone kids outside Quebec.
Anecdotally my kids have a number of friends who are like this. They are definitely very good in English and speak it with their anglo parent, they watch TV and movies in English, and some of them even go to English CEGEP after high school, but the rest of their lives: hanging out with friends (even in the cafeteria at the anglo CEGEP sometimes), part-time jobs, participating in society in general (ie coaching swimming), dating, is mostly all in French.
Absolutely, although for the majority of these people who had parents deliberately send them to an Anglo public school, neither parent was actually Francophone, the ancestry was less recent. I knew plenty of bilingual families but most of these were bonified old stock Anglos. Most of the West Islanders of my generation who were as you describe went to French schools.
Absolutely, although for the majority of these people who had parents deliberately send them to an Anglo public school, neither parent was actually Francophone, the ancestry was less recent. I knew plenty of bilingual families but most of these were true old stock Anglos.
Yes, historically there was some assimilation of French Canadians to the anglo community of Quebec. Including a number of anglophones of French Canadian descent living in Quebec who spoke little to no French.
Though she does speak French quite well (but with an accent), tennis player Eugenie Bouchard would be a pretty good example of someone of French Canadian origin who is an Anglo-Quebecer.
I would say the assimilation phenomenon of French Canadians to English has pretty much dried up in Quebec over the past couple of decades though, and any instances of that observable today are legacy effects of another era.
The number of kids in Quebec with at least one francophone parent growing up without a pretty advanced knowledge of French these days is probably close to zero.
Yes, historically there was some assimilation of French Canadians to the anglo community of Quebec. Including a number of anglophones of French Canadian descent living in Quebec who spoke little to no French.
Though she does speak French quite well (but with an accent), tennis player Eugenie Bouchard would be a pretty good example of someone of French Canadian origin who is an Anglo-Quebecer.
I would say the assimilation phenomenon of French Canadians to English has pretty much dried up in Quebec over the past couple of decades though, and any instances of that observable today are legacy effects of another era.
The number of kids in Quebec with at least one francophone parent growing up without a pretty advanced knowledge of French these days is probably close to zero.
Correct. She moved to Florida when she was 12 or 13.
But even so she is from a Montreal anglo family that is of French Canadian origin. Her mom is a Leclair and her dad is a Bouchard.
(Both parents do speak French IIRC as I have seen them interviewed - though with anglo accents.)
She went to the posh anglo private girls' school The Study in Westmount, where all subject areas (including French) are top notch.
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