Naming Independent New France

Philip

Donor
I'm looking for potential names for an independent New France. Some parameters:

Geography: Roughly OTL Canada plus the northernmost tier of US states from Michigan west.

Demographics: Prominently of French descent with larger (than OTL) well-integrated Metis population. Significant post-independence immigration from Catholic Europe, especially Poland and Ireland. East Asian immigration increasingly important, especially to Pacific coast. Historically and culturally Catholic with varying levels of devotion.

Government: Unitary semi-presidential republic with a romanticized memory of the French monarchy.

Independence: Accidentally achieved in early 19th Century. New France remained uninvolved in and ran her own affairs during the French Revolt. After the monarchy reestablished its position in France, it tried to bring New France back into the fold. NF response was roughly 'Thanks, we're good.', and France was not a strong enough position to force the issue.

Off the Table: Canada, Quebec, Montreal (regional names within the country). New France (we are France's equal, not her daughter). Louisiana (we love our brothers to the south, but we both know they are basically British).
 

Thisisnotausername

Yeah, Canada really is the obvious name, even if it is also being used to refer to a specific region (cf. Mexico). If they have pretensions, they could go for (North) America or Columbia, I guess.
 

Kaze

Banned
Greater Quebec or Louisiana? Wait - already used, but it would work right?

Or maybe "Bonaparte" - name it after our great and benevolent Emperor.
"New La Pucelle" or "New Domremy" - after Joan of Arc, patron saint of France, the later Domremy is her birthplace
New La Rachelle - if you going with a Protestant French one, where the exiled people of Louis the Sun King go west and settle.
 

Lampiao

The easiest choice is most obvious one. The name of today's Québec during the French period was already Canada (which alongside Acadie, Terre-Neuve, etc. formed Nouvelle-France). Later the British named the Dominion after the Canadas, completely disregarding the other provinces. I mean, if you want something fancy go with Laurentie.

Tio Paquete said:
How about Napologne, home of the napolonais.
Click to expand...

Not a French word. The regular derivation would be La Napoléonie.

Kaze said:
New La Rachelle - if you going with a Protestant French one, where the exiled people of Louis the Sun King go west and settle.
Click to expand...

The correct name would be Nouvelle-Rochelle or New Rochelle in English, you need to drop the article. Still, it's more likely to be the name of a city.

Kaze said:
"New La Pucelle" or "New Domremy" - after Joan of Arc, patron saint of France, the later Domremy is her birthplace
Click to expand...

Nouvelle-Pucelle literally means New Virgin. It sounds weird and doesn't make much sense, as Joan of Arc was canonized during the 20th century. IMHO, the most important French saint back then was Saint Louis, hence Lousiana and the cities named Saint Louis in the US, Brazil, Senegal, etc.
 
LNSS

LNSS

What about New France? When I visited Quebec I was kinda surprised they had streets and monuments in honor of New France, so they must have liked the name. It's not like you find stuff honoring British North America in the USA, or New Spain in Mexico.
 

Lampiao

Arcvalons said:
What about New France? When I visited Quebec I was kinda surprised they had streets and monuments in honor of New France, so they must have liked the name. It's not like you find stuff honoring British North America in the USA, or New Spain in Mexico.
Click to expand...

Well, one can argue that the French colonial heritage is a way to distance French-Canadians from the Anglophone establishment. Without the British conquest, Metropolitan France would be establishment to fight against.
 

Philip

Donor
Lampiao said:
Well, one can argue that the French colonial heritage is a way to distance French-Canadians from the Anglophone establishment. Without the British conquest, Metropolitan France would be establishment to fight against.
Click to expand...

This is along the lines of my thinking. These are not French-Canadians preserving their culture.

It is hard to think of the nascent US naming itself New England. Likewise, Mexico is unlikely to take the name New Spain. They had developed their own identity separate from the mother country, are now establishing their own state. I think their choice of name would reflect that.
 

Lampiao

Philip said:
This is along the lines of my thinking. These are not French-Canadians preserving their culture.

It is hard to think of the nascent US naming itself New England. Likewise, Mexico is unlikely to take the name New Spain. They had developed their own identity separate from the mother country, are now establishing their own state. I think their choice of name would reflect that.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Unfortunatedly, Canada fits that role as a indigenous name. If you want something different go with Laurentia of anything related to the St. Lawrence. It worked for the Argentineans, who adopted a fancier and more obscure reference to the Rio de la Plata - Argentum is the Latin word for Silver (Sp. Plata).
 

wwbgdiaslt

Lampiao said:
Exactly. Unfortunatedly, Canada fits that role as a indigenous name. If you want something different go with Laurentia of anything related to the St. Lawrence. It worked for the Argentineans, who adopted a fancier and more obscure reference to the Rio de la Plata - Argentum is the Latin word for Silver (Sp. Plata).
Click to expand...

In that case, if Quebec is derived from a First Nation word for 'where the river narrows', the Latin for that would be, 'qua flumen angustum adducit'.

Perhaps Angustuma?
 

Lampiao

wwbgdiaslt said:
In that case, if Quebec is derived from a First Nation word for 'where the river narrows', the Latin for that would be, 'qua flumen angustum adducit'.

Perhaps Angustuma?
Click to expand...

I don't think we take the Argentina example literally. Rio de la Plata is a Spanish expression, not an indigenous one. Every Spanish-speaker knows what plata means (and all the educated ones knew what Argentum meant).

It would be plausible if the first colonizer who arrived there named the river something like "Narrow River" in French.
 
DracoLazarus

DracoLazarus

You could do something based on the Greek god Borée (Boréalie/Hyperboréalie) if they want to emphasise their Northern position.
Or you could go with Grande-Acadie.
 
JonasResende

JonasResende

Kaze said:
New La Pucelle" or "New Domremy" - after Joan of Arc, patron saint of France, the later Domremy is her birthplace
Click to expand...

Except AFAIK Jeanne d'Arc wasn't canonized until the 20e century.

I get the idea that the idea of a "Nouvelle" prefix is perhaps preferably avoidable.
Cabotie perhaps (although that might be seen as too colonial)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top