Blanchette
A French surname meaning “little white one,” originally a nickname or diminutive form of Blanche.
The #5,396 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,853 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Blanchette is a French diminutive built on blanche, “white” or “fair,” from Latin blancus via Old French. The suffix -ette gives the sense of “little” or “small,” so the name would originally have meant something like “little white one” or “fair-haired/fair-complexioned little woman.” It was likely first used as a nickname and later became hereditary as a surname.
History
The form is especially French in character and is found in Francophone regions of France and later in French-speaking North America, particularly Canada and the United States. In North America it is often associated with families of French Canadian descent. The excerpt provided does not include a dictionary etymology for the surname itself, so this entry relies on standard onomastic pattern knowledge.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Blanchette is also used as a given name or diminutive in French, which can make old records tricky to interpret.
From the historical record
“evieve. Annette, Jeannette, Janette, Janet, Blanchette, Lisette, Odette, Suzette, - Marie, Joan, Adele, Celeste, Colleen, Aline, Christine, Pauline, Francine, Seline, Delphine, Florine, Lo- rine, Fantine, Cozette, Laverne, Irene, Estelle, Clarisse, Louise, Lenore, Gertrude.”
— A Grammar of American Surnames