Courtesy of Wikipedia
Flag adopted 15 Feb 1794

This post is part of a series about genealogy in France. You can read the complete series HERE.

Surnames did not become widespread to the 15th Century for the majority of those in France. Those that wanted to change their name had to obtain permission from the King.

These changes are indexed in L Archivist Jerome

Dictionary of changed names from 1803-1956 is available in Paris, at the Library of France, published 1974.

Some early examples are available online at Gallica or Internet Archive.  A Dictionary of those who had their name changes 1803-1865 can be found HERE and an example looks like this (accessed 28 July 2022):

Courtesy of Gallica – https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k205854g/f1.item