BERNARD

FOREBEARS The first bearer of the name in Canada was from the Lorraine region of France. He is documented in Quebec city in 1666 as Jean Bernard. He and some of his descendants bore the secondary surnames Anse and Hanse, because his original forename must have been Hans (the German equivalent of French Jean, English John). Another bearer, from La Rochelle, is documented in Quebec city in 1676; and a third, from the Poitou region of France, was also documented in Quebec city, in 1713, with the secondary surname Léveillé. Other documented secondary names are Jolicoeur, Larivière, and Lajoie.The Bernard families of LA have origins in France, Acadia, the West Indies, and Germany; they have been in the U.S. since the earliest days of settlement.