It is conclusive that the original name is "André". This name appears with Cosme, Josephus and Norbert i.e. our ancestors in France known to date.
The addition "Dictu laporte" appears for the first time with Josephus ( 1647-1717).
In the marriage registers of the town of Hesdin in the Départment Pas-de-Calais in the Northwest of France he is registered when marrying Catherine Normand under the name Josephus André Dictu laporte. "Dictu" means here "named" laporte
Our Dutch "founder" Joseph Dominique (1725-1811) adopted the addition of his grandfather and later changed the writing into "André Delaporte" and finally "André de la Porte". As far as known all other descendants of Cosme (i.e. everybody except Joseph Dominique) have kept the original name "André"
Several stories go around on the reasons for the addition 'de la Porte". In spite of historical research on the origin of the name no conclusive explanation has been found.The first research conducted by G. Goudswaard in 1935 resulted in no proof of a relationship with families having the name "De la Porte" nor with a tie with similar geographical locations like regions, castles , estates or manors. Oral legends say that the addition of "La Porte" originates in the period that Joseph Dominique left Manosque in the Southeast of France (Départment Alpes-de-Haute-Povence) to go to the Northerly Hesdin, but it is also possible that addition goes further back, to the period before Cosme (born in 1627). A period about which nothing is known. Future research in the "Archives Départmentales des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence" in Dignes-les-Bains might clarify this matter.
Anthony Engelbert André de la Porte (1898-1977) considered "de la Porte" as an addition or an embellishment, which served to distinguish from other families named André . Cornelis (1925-1993) indicated that the addition might have originated in the days of the "Camisards", a group of Huguenots who fought under Pierre Laporte named "Rolland" who revolted against the King. There is no evidence for this theory either and it seems in contradiction with the Roman Catholic religious conviction of the earlier André's . It is undisputed ,after research, that there is no relation with noble or high ranked families with names like "de la porte" or "laporte".
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Joseph Dominique (1725-1811) is the founder of the Dutch André de la Porte family.
Only he changed upon arrival in The Netherlands and settling in Zutphen his name into "André Delaporte" and later into André de la Porte as we know it today.
Consequently Joseph Dominique is the founder of all André de la Porte's all over the world. Remember that there might be families named "La Porte, "de la Porte" or "Della Porte" and among them undoubtedly some with the first name André. There is however no relationship at all with our family. Exceptions might be family members in the United States of America and other English speaking countries, who for practical reasons call themselves "Laporte" and are consequently also listed that way in phone books or other non-official publications. Also in The Netherlands sometimes in oral communication as well as for practical reasons the name "la Porte" or "de la Porte" is used. However in official documents the correct name is used.
The family name
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