Choosing a French 'Nom de Guerre'
For each new recruit that joins the 151st, one of the first steps is to choose a French name to use in the field at events. We have taken to calling this a nom de guerre. At minimum, a first and last name must be chosen. A middle name and Christian name are optional, as many Frenchman at the time had both.
When deciding on a last name, unit members typically chose a name from the actual rolls of the regiment. Over the years, we have gradually compiled the following list of names of men who actually served in the ranks of the 151st:
Unit Roll
Arnoux
Aubert
Auriac
Bajeux
Baron
Basteau
Bastien
Bécourt
Benoit
Berbier
Bertrand
Bizot
Boiselle
Bonnet
Bosc
Bouchard
Bouchez
Bouffard
Boulin
Brejon
Breront
Caillet
Calvigna
Campana
Cannodt
Carrère
Chalard
Chapelle
Chartier
Chevalier
Cleut
Colin
Conduzorgues
Contamine
Coppier
Cormier
Couplet
Curzon
de Blay
de Crouez
de la Ferrière
de Montcalm
de Sailly
Debièvre
Delavaine
Delbarry
Delière
Delwardre
Derbar
Derly
Derome
Destrais
Do
Dubois
Dubondieu
Ducoeurjolly
Dufour
Dumont
Edmond
Elie
Faglain
Fauvart
Flininger
Folliard
Franqueville
Fressinet
Frontigny
Gallais
Garrigues
Gatin
Gayard
Grenet
Grisey
Grouselle
Guelfusci
Guilbaud
Guillou
Gurreaux
Hameau
Hannois
Hnches
Hucliez
Jactel
Jouland
Juillet
Julienne
Karoff
Laporte
Laukmans
le Gallo
le Guével
le Ridant
le Tollec
Lecerf
Lelièvre
Lestienne
Level
Lévy
Loustal
Lovenbrück
Maillard
Martin
Matfi
Maulny
Ménage
Mérel
Meslier
Métayer
Mirland
Mondion
Morel
Nolent
Nouail
Olivier
Pautet
Pernet
Phillipot
Pieplu
Placide
Pochon
Porcille
Poteau
Poulain
Poussart
Queberlé
Rabouin
Remy
Richard
Richon
Riton
Robichon
Rolina
Saffier
Savart
Segonne
Simon
Studer
Tapin
Taverne
Teste
Thomas
Tison
Triaureau
Trochu
Vaisse
Vasselle
Vaudescale
Wattier
Wyckaert
Verluys
Webanck
Please be mindful of which last names have already been taken by visiting the Unit Roll page. Choosing from the regimental roll is not the only method for picking a surname of course. If you have a French family name somewhere in your lineage you are more than welcome to use it. Please just avoid going with a name of celebrities (historical or contemporary) or brand names.
When choosing a first name, there are several web sites to use to check the prevalence of specific names of the time. Perhaps the most informative is this one:
At this site, you can search a database of both first and last names. It lists the number of French people with that name in a given period of time. For first names, a timeline starting in 1900 is displayed. For last names, the oldest searchable period is from 1891-1915. Another site that can be used is:
http://meilleursprenoms.com/stats/topannee.php3?annee=1900&page=1
This site lists the top 200 most popular first names in France in the year 1900. By clicking on a name in the list, you can see its popularity over a century. Finally, the “Memoire des Hommes” web site, operated by the French Ministry of Defense, is a compiling of nearly all French soldiers killed in the war and includes a scan of their death certificate.
http://www.memoiredeshommes.sga.defense.gouv.fr
The "Memoire des Hommes" site is useful for seeing how popular a given name was along with which region the man originated.
