After the second Cedula de Población opened the doors to French Roman Catholic immigration, Spanish names were translated into French, or adapted to a French/Patois pronunciation. Examples include La Luna which became La Lune (now Lalin in pronunciation), Punta de Piedra became Pointe-à-Pierre, Punta Gorda became Point Gourde and Río Grande became Grand(e) Rivière.
Many other non- French names also gained a French and Patois pronunciation: Chaguanas, Chaguaramas (in Venezuela, these two names are of course still pronounced with the <ch> of church, as opposed to the <ch> of machine), Gaspar Grande > Gasparee, Icacos > Icaque, La Brea, Laventilla > Laventille, any name with Petit(e) (see above) or Piti, San Juan, Siparia > Sipawee, and more. Patois also has its own names for Arima (Arime), Port-of-Spain (Òpò), Mayaro (Maywo), and others such as Güiria (Lawil) in Venezuela.
Some Trinbagonian place names of French and French Creole origin include the following:
Abbé Poujade
Anglais Point
Avocat
Bagatelle
Bande Leste
Beau Pres Road
Begorrat’s Cave
Belmont
Beausejour
Biche
Blanchisseuse
Bonasse
(Le) Carenage
Cascade
Coco Jean/Jah
Covigne Ravine
Crapaud Village
Croisée
Embacadere
Felicity
La Fantaisie
La Fillette
La Florissante
La Fortune
Lambeau
La Paille
Lapeyrouse
La Retraite
La Rufin
La Rue Pomme
La Sagesse Road
La Romaine
La Vache
Le Platte
L’Eau Michele
Louis d’Or
Macaque Hill
Mal d’Estomac Bay
Matelot
Mt d’Or
Plaisance
Pois Cassé
Roussillac
St Clair
St François
St Julien
Sainte-Croix
Ste Marie Point
Ste Madeleine
Saline Bay
San Francique
Sans Souci
Saut d’Eau
Trois Rivières
Trou Macaque,
and all others with Belle, Bois, Bon(ne), Bourg, Grand(e), Champs, Lagon, Les, L’Anse, Mon, Petit(e), Mitan, Morne, Pointe, Terre, Ville, and surnames like Lopinot and Lapeyrouse, et cetera. For a longer list, go to our Kwéyòl Wikispaces page.
The number of Trinbagonian surnames of French and French Creole origin (including Corsican names) is great:
Agostini
Aguiton
Annisette
Antoine
Arnaud
Baptiste
Barcant
Bégorrat
Besson
Boisselle
Boisson
Bon
Borde
Cazabon
Charlerie
Christiani
Cipriani
Coussement
d’Abadie
de la Bastide
(de) Boissière
de Four
de Gannes
de la Grenade
d’Heureux
de Lapeyrouse
de Lisle
de Meillac
de Montagnac
de Montbrun
des Anges
de Verteuil
du Bois
Duval
Espinet
Fortuné
Fournillier
Francheschi
François
Ganteaume
Gaspard
Gioannetti
Gillezeau
Girod
Granger
Gregoire
Guillaume
Jean-Baptiste
La Borde
La Foucade
Lange
Laurent
Le Cadre
Le Gendre
Léotaud
Ligoure
Lopinot
Louison
Majani
Mannette
Melizan
Montrichard
Moreau
Mouttet
Olivier
Petit
Pitilal (half Patois and half Hindi/Bhojpuri)
Pierre
Pollonais
Pouchet
Poujade
Rochard
Renaud
Rostant
Rousseau
Seheult
Sellier
Thavenot
Toussaint
Voisin
Yuille
and many, many more.
