Bourgault (); is a predominantly

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

surname derived from

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th Germanic French origin. "Bourg" is from the Frankish *burg meaning town, fortress, or castle and "ault" (-aud) from the Frankish *wald meaning power, mastery, or rule. Philologically, a plurality of Frankish (Franconian) words with the phoneme "w" were changed to gu/ga/gau while developing into nascent old French (e.g. Frankish *werra "war"= "guerre" in Old French, *want "gauntlet"= "gant", and * stratum (linguistics)">developing into nascent old French (e.g. Frankish *werra "war"= "guerre" in Old French, *want "gauntlet"= "gant", and * gaulois"). See: Gauthier">walha "foreigner/Celt"= "Gallo-Roman culture">gaulois"). See: Gauthier. Thus, the name means roughly "master of fortification," indicating a position along the lines of a castellan or burgrave. The toponymic Gau (country subdivision), "gau" may be significant by dint of the historiographical connotations of the name's meaning. Archaic variants and cognates of the name, used then as an occupational given name, are attested to as early as the 6th century and are found in Fredegar's chronicle although the validity of this source, notwithstanding its

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

nature, is often called into question. Therein, one Burgoald was a

strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...

under King Guntram in the area of

Chalon Chalon may refer to: Culture *Chalon people, a Native American tribe of California *Chalon language, an Ohlone language spoken by the Chalon people Places *Chalon, Isère, formerly Châlons, in France's Isère ''département'' *Le Chalon, in th ...

. The name is sequestered mostly in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, the

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; but can also mean 'Lower Loire') is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, located on the country's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital an ...

, and

Lower Normandy Lower Normandy (, ; ) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Lower and Upper Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. Geography The region included three departments, Calvados, Manche and Orne, that cover ...

though it is relatively more common in the

new world The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

. Seventeenth and eighteenth century census data and baptismal registers indicated a presence in St-Malo and its environs. St-Malo was the chief port of departure for French colonial efforts westward, so it is no great surprise that carriers of the name were among those that emigrated during the kingdom of France's zenith of inhabiting

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

. In North America the name is most prevalent in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

and, following the late 19th century exodus,

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, particularly

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. The first Bourgault known to emigrate to

from St-Malo was Jean Bourgault in 1733. He was from Pleurtuit, France, and married Therese Francoise Behier in St-Malo on January 26, 1719.Marriage certificate, archives at la Mairie de St-Servan, p. 137: "Jean Bourgaut, de la paroisse de Pleurtuit, et Therese Francoise Behier, de cette ville, ont recu ce jour, la benediction nuptiale, par moi, soussigne, Joseph Josse, pretre, et ensuite des deux premieres publications des bans faits sans opposition tant dans l'Eglise de la paroisse de Pleurtuit que dans cette eglise de cette ville et ce, apres du consentement de M. le Recteur de la dite paroisse et de la dispense du 3e ban dument insinnue Leurs octroye par Monseigneur de St Malo et de la permission de Messire Joseph Gouin epurioure, et vicaire perpetuel de St Malo en presence de Jacques Bourgaut de Julien Bourgaut freres de l'epoux, de Julien Behier pere, de Joseph Piot de Pierre Housset, de Julien Daligot et plusieurs autres qui ont signe a St Malo le 26 Janvier 1719 ignaturesJean Bourgaut, Julien, Joseph Piot, Alexandre Puisney, ... , Piere Housset, ..., Jos Josse" They settled in St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec, Canada. Individuals not within the realm of a recognized heraldic body are entitled to display the following arms and

difference Difference commonly refers to: * Difference (philosophy), the set of properties by which items are distinguished * Difference (mathematics), the result of a subtraction Difference, The Difference, Differences or Differently may also refer to: Mu ...

them as they see fit: Of azure with two

tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

crenellated A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

on a terrace base of

sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...

. The name Bourgault is cognate with the feminine

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

Walburga, which in itself means "rule of fortress." Its cognate in

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

and the modern Scandinavian languages is Borgvald, commonly used as a forename, surname, and

patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (more specifically an avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. It is the male equivalent of a matronymic. Patronymics are used, b ...

. It may also refer to; * Hélène Bourgault (born 1945) — Canadian video and film artist * Jonathan Beaulieu-Bourgault — Canadian professional soccer player * Lise Bourgault — Canadian politician *

Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray Louis-Albert Bourgault-Ducoudray (2 February 1840 – 4 July 1910) was a French Breton composer, pianist, and professor of music history/theory at the Conservatoire de Paris as well as a Prix de Rome laureate. He was born at Nantes and died at ...

— French composer, pianist, and professor of music history/theory *

Pierre Bourgault Pierre Bourgault (January 23, 1934 – June 16, 2003) was a politician and essayist, as well as an actor and journalist, from Quebec, Canada. He is most famous as a public speaker who advocated sovereignty for Quebec from Canada. Biography ...

— Quebecer politician and essayist

References

{{Reflist Surnames of Breton origin Surnames of Norman origin Surnames of French origin Germanic-language surnames