I'm French Canadian, but Cajun names sound so foreign to me...

[Some Moran]

Richard Ieyoub?

I've never met Francophones with names like Ieyoub here in Canada.

[KeepItReal]

1. How bout Boudreaux, Arceneaux, and Robicheaux?

:-)

Guerin, Patin, Charbonnet...I could go on and on...

[juajen]

2. Not a cajun name

Or, at least I don't think so. We have a large Lebanese contingent in South Louisiana. I think that's a Lebanese name. For instance, in Lafayette we have Abdallah's Department Store. Lots of Abdallahs. Also a German contingent, lots of Spanish and Italians, etc. Cajun names are Hebert (pronounced a-bear), Richard (pronounced ree shard), Thibideaux (pronounced ti-ba-dough), Landry, Arceneaux (pronounced ar-sen-o), LeBlanc, Doucet (pronounced do-say), Champagne, (pronounced shahm-pine), Domingue(pronounced dough-main), Breaux (pronounced bro), Blanco, Broussard, etc. I hope I have shown you the difference. South Louisiana is a melting pot. Original cajun names are from the Acadien French.

[jus_the_facts]

3. Who Dat...

.....wishin' I had me some boudin riiiight now!! AAAAIIIIEEEE!! :hi:

[Some Moran]

4. All right...

I just know a guy who goes on about Cajun pride with regards to Ieyoub...(But that guy's messed up...He smokes weed, listens to Tupac, holds wild parties for teens, and flies a confederate flag. His 4 most hated politicians are George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton (the reason he was a Republican in the Senate simulation), Mike Foster, and Piyush Jindal...He's a huge fan of Pat Buchanan's economic policy, but despises his social views, being libertarian (Though not liberal, except with regards to unions) on everything but abortion, on which he is very pro-life. His daddy got rich during the Edwards years, and now he doesn't have to work for a living. He is nonetheless very pro-union, as he once did very hard blue collar work in the past.

Anyways, is Edwin Edwards a Cajun?

[MojoKrunch]

7. Pass me some of that boudin!

//I just know a guy...//
Now that is one *screwed up* individual!

//Anyways, is Edwin Edwards a Cajun?//
Not technically, no.
He is originally from Marksville, the parish seat of Avoylles, about 30 miles southeast of Alexandria.
His ancestors might be Acadians, but that area is kinda "in-between".
Go 20 miles north and you're in north Louisiana which might as well be Arkansas/West Texas... go 20 miles east and you're in Mississippi River swampland.

I'm from that area... one of my ancestors founded the town of Cottonport, and we trace our history back directly to France... Flanders and Alasace-Lorainne(German border area which explains the blonde hair/blue eyes in the family tree).
I think most of Avoylles parish is like that... French but not Cajun.

Mojo

[Lexingtonian]

5. Hmmm....

I'd guess Harmon, as in Angie Harmon

and DeLay, as in Tom The Spawn of Satan

too.

[MojoKrunch]

8. I agree with you.

Can I tell you I almost wished I was back in La. just to be able to vote in this governors election?

That the two choies don't include a white guy for once is astounding!

Ok, so no viable African American candidates yet, but I'm still hoping.

Mojo

[jus_the_facts]

13. Cleo Fields and William Jefferson were VERY viable.....

....and I voted for both....Cleo was above and beyond an excellent choice for Governor...makes me so very angry he wasn't elected!! I loathe these two choices we have at present...Jindal is a looney fundie and Blanco is a WEAK Dem...might as well have an R behind her name...yet I'll hold my nose and vote for her anyway....sure wanna get my name on that petition to have Edwin Edwards pardoned too x(

[MojoKrunch]

11. He is originally from Lake Charles, apparently.

Mojo

[J B]

6. Not that I've heard that name either but,

Quebec or Maritimes? I'm from the Maritimes, myself.

[Loonman]

9. That's okay

We usually can't understand Jim Carville unless he's yelling.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

10. In New England, There are a Lot of French-Canadians w/similar

surnames. I grew up with a family of Boudreauxs. There are some towns in Maine, NH, and Vermont that speak French.

[MojoKrunch]

12. It is my understanding that the Acadian people

travled down the US eastern seaboard looking for a place to stay before they ended up in southeast La.

This is why, for instance, Charleston, South Carolina has "low country" gumbo and other cultural similarities.

But don't forget that the Fench immigrated to the US like everyone else.
Most of Louisiana is populated by non-Cajun French decendants.

I was *shocked* when I ran a web search for the first time and found *thousands* of people with my, what I *thought* was a very unique, family name.
Until that point the only folks I knew who had it were related directly to me and while they might live in other states were all from the same place originally.

Mojo

[trof]

14. Cajun names

A real Cajun knows that Hebert isn't pronounced "Hee-bert", it's "Aye-Behr".
my wife's maiden name is Landeche'.
In Lake Charles it's Lahn-duh-shay.
In Monroe it's Lahn-desch.
In Houston it's Landish.