Help with French History

[oldhippy]

I have discovered many French descendants in my Family Tree. De Pierrepont I, Sir Hugh abt 910. What is meant by De.

What does all this mean? Pierrepont, Neufchatel, Seine-Inferiure, Haute-Normandie, France.
Am I right in thinking people were given their title due to the land they owned, is it to do with Kingship.

[goldie61]

'De' in French means 'of'.
So he is 'of' Pierrepont.
I don't think it is necessarily to do with 'Kingship', but he may have been something like a baron, or Lord of that area if the date of 910 you have is correct, and his genealogy has survived through the centuries.

Pierrepont, Neufchatel, Seine-Inferiure, Haute-Normandie, France.

This tells you where Pierrepont is in France.
Similar to an place, area, and county given in an English addresses.

Google "Pierrepont haute Normandie" for a map.

[Malcolm33]

 The 'De' prefix was used by so many people in Britain around the 1200's and for centuries before that.    It may have been more like the German 'Von' at one time, but generally it indicated where people were from.    My mother was a Draffan with her ancestors coming from Lesmahagow and Douglas in Lanarkshire.    In 1960 my Uncles all received a letter from a Draffen of Dundee asking about their heritage and this George Draffen had found the most likely ancestor to have been a James De Raffe who was a Chartulary Witness at the Abbey of Kelso from about 1168 and he ended up in Lesmahagow which is close to Draffan Castle (Tillietudlum in Scott's 'Old Mortality).   This James De Raffe did then sign his name as 'Draffan', 'Draffen', 'Draffin' and even Draphane at various times.     If you look into the far past of any name you are likely to find it once had 'De' before it.   My Huttons were once De Houton and other variations of the name.    Bruce was De Brus, and so on.

[philipsearching]

As a sidenote to Malcolm33's post:

In early medieval times in Britain surnames of "commoners" could derive from their town or village of origin (as well as occupations, father's names and so on).  Gentry would often have a surname derived from a place-name.  Lords could be known as "of" the land they owned or controlled for the monarch, but would retain the family surname (for instance Robert Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick was sometimes referred to as Robert de Warwick).

I don't know enough about medieval French surnames to be certain, but my understanding is that the "de" prefix was restricted to gentry and nobility.

Philip

[youngtug]

Although not restricted to nobility almost all nobilty  names have, or had de in them.

[and, oldhippy, it will not be De, but de in France]

[oldhippy]

I have been in touch with someone who teaches French and its history. What you all have contributed here ties in with what I have been told.

Thank you for all your help.