According to 'L'Internaute.com,' 458 personnes portent le nom M. aujourd'hui en France, et: Le nom M. figure au 21 045e rang des noms les plus portés en France.

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I have a French surname. It's always been a problem, spelling it out. Correcting pronunciation. Actually, never correctly pronouncing it, because it's French, but since it includes an 'R' and what would otherwise be a silent last consonant, we are constantly mispronouncing it, just so that we can be understood (somewhat) by the Anglicized world.

That's one reason it's so great being in France. Introducing my name is a veritable breeze. People can spell it automatically. They smile when they see that it is French, and ask me where I am from. They say it and it comes off the tongue like ripe fruit in summer. This is what my name is supposed to sound like. Not what we normally say.

The one question I can't answer is: where does my name come from? Actually, I would like to answer that for myself. But you wouldn't believe how hard it is to find my name online. If you search for it on Google, you get hits primarily from a) my family, and b) obscure historical figures.

Trolling through dozens of genealogical websites and resources for French surnames, I almost always come up nil. But I have finally found a site that captures some information on records bearing my family's surname. Who knows what I will find. Of course, I don't know the names of my ancestors who originally came to Canada, and I don't know if anyone in my family does. Family history doesn't seem to have been their strong point. Not like the massive family trees and stores of dated photos on my mother's (German) side of the family. I guess it explains a few things. Probably not surprising. But hey, someone's got to find out the family history.

And now, it just turns out, by coincidence, that I happen to be staying literally across the street from one of the major historical archives in France, especially for this region. Given that I did find a record for a surname similar to mine coming from Nice, I think I could be in the right place. Funny how things come to be.