ETYMOLOGY OF THE NAME- GIBLOT   AND   GIBLOT DUCRAY

There is no hard and fast rule for the spelling of Giblot Ducray and it may be spelt as Giblot du Cray, Giblot Du Cray, Giblot Ducray or merely Ducray, some prefer one way or the other.

At first it was thought that in earlier times it was originally du Cray, later becoming Ducray, perhaps because of the French Revolution when many nobles dropped the “particule” (de, du) or incorporated it in one word. However, in the family documents the name is often spelt in one word, even on the oldest ones.

In modern usage, double barrelled names have gradually fallen away. It is common today to use the name Ducray only, and spelt in one word.

The single usage of Ducray, without Giblot, is evident in the telephone directories of Mauritius, France and in the indexes of the Archives in Port Louis. In recent times the name Giblot has even been officially omitted when registering progeny, the author, Marc’s surname is evidence of this, he is christened and registered merely as Ducray.

The earliest known direct ancestor bearing the name Giblot is Charles Giblot.

Prior to the French Revolution in 1789, it was customary for the eldest son only to use the father’s name. All other sons were required to add another name to the patronymic one, as a sign of respect to the father and to distinguish themselves from other members of the family. The additional name is normally taken from the estate (property) owned or an area in which they lived.

A good example of this is Charles Francois Giblot Ducray’s family. Although he was the eldest son, he adopted the name Giblot de Lorcy, from the area where he lived.

From the time of Jean Baptiste Félix Giblot du Cray, in the 1700, the family took the name “Giblot du Cray” and this name has continued.

Hence the connection between Giblot and Giblot Ducray.

The earliest known record of the name Giblot is in 1468 and this is recorded in the Archives in Paris. To put the date of 1468, into perspective, it was approximately in the era of Christopher Columbus, who discovered America in 1492.

Giblot is a rare name in France today. Only four Giblots seem to have been born there between 1966 and 1990 and one of these first saw the light of day in Martinique. It’s so rare today in France that it’s ranked at no. 149, 893 in the list of family names. Even searches under alternative spellings such as Gibleau and Gibelotte reveal no further members of the family.

DERIVATION OF THE NAME

To date the derivation of the name Giblot or Ducray cannot be traced. Ducray could possibly be derived from:-

The “du” means of; Cray - perhaps from “craie” in French, meaning chalk.

i.e.  Ducray - of Chalk.

This is all supposition, but possible, as the area in France where the family emanated from, is in fact chalky.