Wallonian name
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Since Belgium has three national languages — Flemish, French and German — Belgian names are similar to those in the neighbouring countries: the Netherlands, France and Germany. Thanks to this multiculturalism, Belgium has one of the highest number of surnames in the world (no less than 190,000 at the last count), and certainly the highest per capita ratio, about 1 family name for 53 people.[citation needed] Place names (regions, towns, villages, hamlets) with a particle meaning "from" (de in French, del in Walloon, or van in Flemish) are the most numerous. An uncapitalised particle sometimes indicates nobility.
For French family names among the Walloons and other francophones of Belgium, see below.
The twenty most common French surnames in Belgium are respectively Dubois, Lambert, Dupont, Martin, Dumont, Leroy, Leclercq, Simon, Laurent, François, Denis, Renard, Thomas, Lejeune, Gérard, Petit, Mathieu, Lemaire, Charlier, and Bertrand. Sources
Some surnames have an unclear origin, like Berger, meaning shepherd in French, and mountainer in Dutch and German.
There are also a lot of typical Walloon surnames, like Monami (fr: Mon ami, en: My friend), Dehasse (fr: de Hasselt, en: from Hasselt), Delcroix (fr: de la Croix, en: from the Cross), Delhaize or Donnay (some famous tennis equipments in the 80ties).
Crossed etymologies can even be found, like Deflandre (meaning in French from Flanders) or Dehasse (fr: de Hasselt, en: from Hasselt, in Flemish Region).
