Fourcade History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

Etymology of Fourcade

What does the name Fourcade mean?

The origins of this old family name Fourcade can be found within medieval France. While the patronymic and metronymic surnames, which are derived from the name of the father and mother respectively, are the most common form of a hereditary surname in France, occupational surnames also emerged during the late Middle Ages. Many people, such as the Fourcade family, adopted the name of their occupation as their surname. However, an occupational name did not become a hereditary surname until the office or type of employment became hereditary. The surname Fourcade was an occupational name for someone who worked at a forge or smithy.

The surname Fourcade was originally derived from the word "forgeret", "forge" in English, which in turn derives from the Latin word "fabrica" which means "workshop". 1

Early Origins of the Fourcade family

The surname Fourcade was first found in the town of Forgetville located in the region of Lorraine in the northeast France where this distinguished family held a family seat. 1

In later years, this main branch of the family branched to acquire lands and estates in Touraine and at Kerlan in Picardy where they were active in the affairs of the church and community and were recorded as a family of stature and importance. The family also branched to Normandy and Poitou. They flourished on their estates for many centuries, intermarrying with many other distinguished families of the area until the French Revolution in 1789 when many aristocrats lost their estates.

Early History of the Fourcade family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Fourcade research. Another 53 words (4 lines of text) covering the year 1630 is included under the topic Early Fourcade History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fourcade Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Forget, Forgett, Fourget, Forquet, Forquette, Faurget, Faurquet, Forgette, Fougette and many more.

Early Notables of the Fourcade family

More information is included under the topic Early Fourcade Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Fourcade Ranking

France, the name Fourcade is the 694^th most popular surname with an estimated 6,953 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Fourcade family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Nicolas Forget was one of the early settlers in Quebec who arrived from Normandy in 1652; Jacques Forget arrived in Quebec from Poitou in 1634.

Contemporary Notables of the name Fourcade (post 1700) +

Bertrand Fourcade (1942-2024), French rugby union player, a coach and a sports director
Martin Fourcade (b. 1988), French Olympian who won two gold and two sliver at the 2010 and 2014 games
Aníbal Francisco Palma Fourcade (1935-2023), Chilean politician who served as minister and Ambassador of Chile to Costa Rica (1995-1997)

Sources +

Dionne, N.-E., Origine Des Familles Canadiennes-Français. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969. Print.
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/