Frequency: (173)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
French (Bègue): nickname for someone afflicted with a stammer, from a derivative of Old French beguer ‘to stammer’ (from Middle Low German beggen ‘to chatter’). In the 12th century in Liège a priest called Lambert le Begue (‘Lambert the Stammerer’) founded a Christian sisterhood whose members followed an austere rule of life; they came to be known as the Béguines. A century later an order of lay brothers modeled on this sisterhood was founded in Flanders, the Beghards (see Beckert). The name is frequent in LA.
GIVEN NAMES: French 4%. Christophe, Jean Louis.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
