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Names

Early French-Canadians often employed a nickname of sorts, a "dit" (know as) name. Somehow or another, in the pronunciation of our ancestors 'dit' name, quite a few alternate spellings could be created. Here are some of the variations found in early documents:

Quay
Qué
Equét
Esquiez
Ethier
Hequét
Hethier
Hickey
Guay
Gué
Leque
Dragon
Ledragon
Lesdragons

It isn't difficult to see how it can go from Quay to Equet and from Ethier to Ackey to Hickey. Dragon has often picked up an extra vowel to become Dragoon, and in some Ontario branches of the family, Drago.

It is interesting how the St. Denis branch was satisfied with Dragon, and allowed it to become the main name in the parish records. The St. Jean branch seemed to favor the "Ethier", and it was no wonder that in one particular civil war record, a claimant's mother didn't even realize that "Dragon" was anything more than just a nickname.