Re: Meaning of D'Artagnan
by Daividh (guest)
4/28/2002, 8:12 PM
It means "of" or "from" Artagnan, a town in the southwest French district of Hautes Pyrenees. It's not a first name as such, but more of a last name or honorific like "von Richthofen". It may denote minor nobility, a class of people who didn't easily descend to the familiarity of first names in everyday social relationships.
The specific source for D'Artagnan was apparently Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan, a French soldier of the early 1600's whose memoirs supposedly were used by Dumas as a basis for "The Three Musketeers" and other works.
- Da.