In 2021, the most popular baby names in the French commune of Périgueux were Anna/Iris (tied) and Jules.
The name Canard, on the other hand — the French word for “duck” — was only given to one of the 1,513 babies born in Périgueux last year. That baby was Dyklan Canard, born in August of 2021.
What’s the story behind Dyklan’s unusual middle name?
The baby’s grandfather, tattoo artist Jean-Christophe Bret-Canard, said that his own mother, Georgette, had been a war orphan during WWII. Originally born into a family travellers, she was abandoned in 1943 in front of a church in the town of Châtellerault. She was cared for in an orphanage until, several months later, she was was adopted by a man named Georges Canard, “a French soldier who later worked on the railways and was engaged in the resistance.”
Jean-Christophe has always seen his mother’s surname as a source of pride. He sports a number of duck tattoos — his tattoo parlor is even called Duck — and he gave all four of his sons the middle name Canard.
And one of those sons, Mike, continued the tradition last year by passing the name down to his own son, Dyklan Canard.
(I discovered this story via Appellation Mountain — thank you Abby!)
Sources: French baby named ‘Canard’ is heir to tragic but proud family history, Une famille de Dordogne explique pourquoi elle a appelé son fils “Canard”, Périgord: pourquoi cette famille a choisi de donner “Canard” comme deuxième prénom à son enfant, En Périgord, “Canard” peut aussi être un prénom
Image: Adapted from Anas platyrhynchos male JdP 2013-05-02 by Marie-Lan Nguyen under CC BY 2.5.
