This thesis contains a study of the legal rules governing the transmission and change of the surname in Quebec civil law. It undertakes to shed light, by means of a psychoanalytical approach, on the regime for the attribution and change of surname, notably on law reform initiatives in the Province since the onset of the 80s. Contemporary norms in Quebec in respect of the name depart from the classical features of the civilian tradition in that the role played by human will appear indeed to be preponderant in Quebec, be it as to assignment or change of name. This characteristic is likely to affect the normal functioning of the naming process by turning it into a battlefield upon which unresolved incestuous and narcissic tendencies are at play. Whilst the naming scene is in process of privatisation, state actors remain however principally as sanction takers toward parents.

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This research uses isonymy (same-surname) methods and models to examine the population structure and migratory history of Quebec, Canada. Through a case study using 1765 and 1881 census and marriage records from 1621-1900, I explore the accuracy of sources as well as develop, test and apply different statistical methods, and experiment with mapping techniques that reveal paths and patterns of French Canadian surnames. Each investigation explores and evaluates a particular method. I noted that multivariate methods, including cluster analysis, relevance networks, and correspondence analysis, not traditionally used in surname analysis offer reliable and informative results, and insights into the hierarchical structure of populations not easily gleaned from traditional surname methods. The spatial and temporal components of Quebec surname distributions revealed that groups of names which populate and distinguish certain regions were in place by 1800, and cross-river relatedness became less significant as the population expanded upstream away from the St. Lawrence River. I also found that surnames unique to certain regions remained strongly clustered until the mid-nineteenth century when urbanization and the settlement of new territory led to the fusion of name pools (diversification) in and around urban areas, while at the same time causing losses of names in some rural areas. The marriage records provided evidence, through their measure of random mating, that surnames within different regions in Quebec continually diversified throughout the nineteenth century. Overall, I found surnames to be an informative variable for inferring population relatedness and migratory paths. Because surnames are readily available in a number of sources researchers involved with historical migration research should find that the methods presented in this work will provide a time-saving technique which can overcome the restrictions of spatial and temporal scale an

No description available.