In francophone communities throughout the United States and Canada, the name Napoléon has for generations been an expression of French pride and a gesture of linguistic and cultural resistance in an otherwise anglophone environment. I met a French-speaking six-year-old boy in Ontario just a couple of years ago with this first name.While there have been thousands of people named “Napoleon Bonaparte” in the U.S. and Canada, these are from otherwise anglophone backgrounds; in francophone milieux, a person with “Napoléon” as a first name generally never has “Bonaparte” as a middle name.In New England, we call ourselves “French” because of who we are in New England, not because of the Métropole or the Belle Province. And when a child has been named “Napoléon,” it is not because of Bonaparte, but because of pride in being French.
While there have been thousands of people named “Napoleon Bonaparte” in the U.S. and Canada, these are from otherwise anglophone backgrounds; in francophone milieux, a person with “Napoléon” as a first name generally never has “Bonaparte” as a middle name.
In New England, we call ourselves “French” because of who we are in New England, not because of the Métropole or the Belle Province. And when a child has been named “Napoléon,” it is not because of Bonaparte, but because of pride in being French.