Le Cornu
Le Cornu is a surname of French origin, later strongly associate with Jersey in the Channel Islands.
Variants and history
[edit]The name Le Cornu is of French origin, and in particular from Calvados and the area around Bayeux.[1]
The name has a number of variants, including "Cornu", "Lecornue", "Lecornu" and "Cornut".[1] Tosti comments that it was "a name that some bearers found difficult to wear as it immediately and incontrovertibly evoked a horned person, or a cuckold". However, this has been challenged by M.T. Morlet who comments that this identification of horns with a husband who has been cheated on only came into being at the end of the Middle Ages.[2] The discussion continues, although Tosti accepts Dauzat's view that the idea of a cuckold is found from the 13th century onwards and that "it is this interpretation which will undoubtedly stand the test of time".[3]
The variant "Lecorne" is found in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais (Hauts de France) area of France where a feminine form "Lacorne" is also found. In this case, while also carrying the meaning of "horned person" it is understood to refer to a horn or trumpet player, which in turn indicates a rather naive individual.[4]
From the 15th century onwards, it has been a common surname in the Channel Islands, most notably in Jersey, where it remains strongly identified with the island.[5][6] Possibly the oldest record of a Le Cornu family in Jersey is that of Jean Le Cornu (1480-?).[7]
People with the surname
[edit]Notable people with the surname include:
- Craig Le Cornu (born 1960), English football player
- Léon Lecornu (1854–1940), French engineer and physicist
- Patrice Lecornu (1958–2023), French football player
- Phillip Le Cornu (1836–1921), early settler in South Australia from Jersey, who founded a furniture business called Le Cornu, buried in Walkerville Cemetery, Adelaide
- Sébastien Lecornu (born 1986), French politician and prime minister
See also
[edit]- Ogier & Le Cornu, a law firm merged into the Ogier Group
- Cornu (disambiguation)
References
[edit]- 1 2 Jean Tosti, 'Le Dictionnaire des Noms '
- ↑ Albert Dauzat, Noms et prénoms de France, Librairie Larousse 1980, édition revue et commentée par Marie-Thérèse Morlet.
- ↑ "Nom de famille CORNU : origine et signification". Geneanet.
- ↑ "Nom de famille LECORNE : origine et signification". Geneanet.
- ↑ "Search results for "cornu" - Jerripedia". www.jerripedia.org.
- ↑ "Le Cornu - Jerripedia".
- ↑ "Descendants of Jean le Cornu (1480) - Jerripedia".
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