Dufour
A French surname meaning “of the oven,” originally tied to the communal village bakehouse or public oven.
The #7,191 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 66,440 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Dufour comes from Old French four, meaning “oven,” with the preposition du meaning “of the.” In medieval France, the public or communal oven was an important village feature, so the name likely began as a topographic or identifying label for someone living by, or associated with, that oven. The basic sense is therefore “from the oven” or “of the oven.”
History
Nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century surname writers repeatedly note Dufour as a common French name and connect it with the medieval public oven. The name is especially associated with French and Huguenot families, and it appears in Britain and elsewhere through migration from France. Related French surnames such as Fournier and Furness were sometimes compared with it because they also reflect baking or oven-related vocabulary.
Origin
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Fun fact
Old French communal ovens were important enough in village life that they left a clear trace in surname formation, and Dufour is one of the best-known examples.
From the historical record
“' of the burg,' (our Burrowes) ; Du- chesne and Ducane, ' of the oak,' (our Noakes); Dufour ' of the oven ;' Dufort 'of the fort;' Dupree, Duprej', {pre) 'of the meadow,' (our Mead); Dupuy ' of the well,' (our Wells); Duvall, Duval, 'of the valley,' (our Dale) ; and many others.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom