It is now known that some surnames of French Acadian, French Canadian and Cajun origin may well be of Jewish origin.

According to history, the Sephardic Jews were forced to leave Spain and Portugal during the Spanish Inquisition. Many made their way to France, especially the southern part of France, known as Bayonne and Bordeaux.

During the early 1600's some of the Anusim (Jews forced to convert to Catholicism) who fled to France, ended up immigrating to New France, now known as Canada, seeking a life without persecution.

The objective of this project is to prove this theory. In doing so, they would like to link themselves through the Canadian Anusim surnames, places of origin and DNA to other Anusim and Jewish families, thereby re-establishing family ties that were lost in the Jewish diaspora.

Other sites of possible interest

Further DNA testing will advance the findings of this study.