The name "Jazzer"--(possibility of humorous French names)

[Gerald Cohen]

This is to both ads-l and ans-l. --

   In order to judge whether Jazzer might derive from French jaseur,
it's necessary to get a clear idea about the humorous U.S. or
Canadian surnames of French origin. In other words, the surname might
not exist in France but be present on this side of the Atlantic.

    One possible example: A man named Nicholas Beaugenou was born in
Canada, 1741, and eventually moved to St. Louis. Beaugenou is not
listed in Dauzat's dictionary of French names and is very possibly of
humorous origin; its literal meaning is "Beautiful Knee." Similarly,
there was a man named Beaupied ("Beautiful Foot").

    So, if humorous French names were possible on this side of the Atlantic,
it's not impossible that someone received the moniker "Chatterbox"
("Jaseur") by  a French speaker, and non-French-speakers altered it
slightly to "Jazzer."

Gerald Cohen


>Date:         Sat, 11 Oct 2003 12:00:05 -0400
>From: Marc Picard <picard at vax2.concordia.ca>
>Subject: Re: The name "Jazzer"--(was: jazzer, 1896)
>To: ANS-L at LISTSERV.BINGHAMTON.EDU
>Gerald Cohen wrote:
>
>>I'm sending this to the American Name Society as well as to ads-l. ---
>>
>>     George Thompson's spotting of the 19th century name "Jazzer"
>>raises the question" Where did this name come from?
>>
>>     I'd guess: from French "jaser" (= chatter). So "Jazzer" (as a
>>name) would originally have been "Chatterer/Chatterbox."
>>
>>     Is there any scholarly literature to confirm or refute this suggestion?
>>
>>
>If the name came from French, the origin would have to be jaseur
>'chatterbox, gossip'. However, Jaseur is not a French surname so it
>can't be the origin of Jazzer. In fact, Jazzer is probably not a
>real surname either, or else it was the nonce adaptation of the
>Arabic name Jazzar.
>
>Marc Picard
>