Surname origin.

[hope]

Perhaps a strange question but, would any member know the origins for surname Douay? Thank-you.

[Keegah]

Googling the surname seems to indicate that it's French, derived from a town in the North of the country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douai
http://en.geneanet.org/search/?name=DOUAY&place=Regniere+%C9cluse&subregion=F80&region=PIC&country=FRA&bdd=g3_arbre
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=rheims-douay+version
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=pubmembertrees&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=feeder&gsln=Douay

Surnamedb also says that the surname was sometimes anglicized to Dewey, and that Douay or Douai is derived from the old Gaulish name, "Dous". It's also implied that it was specifically a Norman French surname, which might explain things if it occurs in Ireland or Britain.
http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Dewey

Hope I helped.

[hope]

Googling the surname seems to indicate that it's French, derived from a town in the North of the country.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douai
http://en.geneanet.org/search/?name=DOUAY&place=Regniere+%C9cluse&subregion=F80®ion=PIC&country=FRA&bdd=g3_arbre
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=rheims-douay+version
http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=pubmembertrees&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=0&msT=1&gss=feeder&gsln=Douay

Surnamedb also says that the surname was sometimes anglicized to Dewey, and that Douay or Douai is derived from the old Gaulish name, "Dous". It's also implied that it was specifically a Norman French surname, which might explain things if it occurs in Ireland or Britain.
http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Dewey

Hope I helped.


Yes Keegah that is a help thanks a lot for the listings. I had seen two of them when I googled earlier in the week and thought them a little vague but hadn`t see the others you gave, so great.

[sparkey]

The distribution (http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/carte/nomcarte.cgi?nom=Douay) is very concentrated around Somme. The variant that matches the village (http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/carte/nomcarte.cgi?nom=Douai) is less common and more closely tied to the village it comes from.

[hope]

The distribution (http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/carte/nomcarte.cgi?nom=Douay) is very concentrated around Somme. The variant that matches the village (http://www.geopatronyme.com/cgi-bin/carte/nomcarte.cgi?nom=Douai) is less common and more closely tied to the village it comes from.

Thank-you sparkey. :good_job: