The project

France Surname Map is a project born in Italy in 2015 on the model of Mappa dei Cognomi, to satisfy people's curiosity about the distribution of their surname in France. A surname marks membership of a family: it is the link between us and our ancestors. The maps show how widespread a surname is and where it is most concentrated; from them you can recognise different lineages or discover how rare a name is.

What are surname maps for?

Surname maps are one of many tools for genealogical research. It is not unusual to be able to guess the origin of a surname simply by looking at its geographical distribution. This is not possible for surnames that are common throughout the country, and some surnames have several origins. It is not a precise tool, but it lets you roughly identify the areas of interest, and therefore which local archives to search.

Data source

The maps were produced by processing more than 25 million records, collected through long and careful work on telephone directories from the 1990s. For this reason they do not reflect recent changes and do not include families who never had a landline; the result is nonetheless well suited to the purpose of the project, which is to help you discover the origin of your surname.

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