Le Cornu

Le Cornu is a surname of French origin, later strongly associated with Jersey in the Channel Islands.

Variants and history

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

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

References

  1. 1 2 Jean Tosti, 'Le Dictionnaire des Noms '
  2. ↑ Albert Dauzat, Noms et prénoms de France, Librairie Larousse 1980, édition revue et commentée par Marie-Thérèse Morlet.
  3. ↑ "Nom de famille CORNU : origine et signification". Geneanet.
  4. ↑ "Nom de famille LECORNE : origine et signification". Geneanet.
  5. ↑ "Search results for "cornu" - Jerripedia". www.jerripedia.org.
  6. ↑ "Le Cornu - Jerripedia".
  7. ↑ "Descendants of Jean le Cornu (1480) - Jerripedia".
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