Gemeau

Recorded in a wide range of spellings including Jumeau, Jumonet, Jumont, Jumel, Gemeau, (France), Gemelli, Gemini, and Gimignani (Lombardy, Sicily and Central Italy) and Iemolo, Iomelli and Zemelli, (Venice and Emilia), this is a surname of ultimately Roman (Latin) origins. It derives from the ancient word 'gemellus' and can be either a nickname for a twin child, or it can be a habitational name from one of the several places called Jumeau and similar. The locational meaning is related to some local feature which contains a near identical pair of something. This is usually two similar rocks, but may be a village in a valley between peaks or even between two streams. The precise meaning would depend on the individual location in each case. Locvational surnames are usually 'from' names. That is to say names given to people after they left their original homes and moved elsewhere. It was in medieval times, and it remains so today, that often the easiest way to identify a stranger is to call him or sometimes her, by the name of the place from whence they came. Spelling being at best erratic and local dialects very thick, have lead to the developemnet of 'sounds like' spellings of the surname. In this case examples of the name recording taken from surviving and appropriate registers include: John Jumon, believed to have been a Huguenot refugee at the church of St Botolphs Bishopgate in the city of London in 1621, whilst Justine Jumonet married Jean Jacque Guermond at St Didier Charpey, in the department of Drome, on May 7th 1751, and Etienne Jumont and his wife Marie, who were witnesses at St Germain-en-Laye, Meurthe-et-Moselle, on May 8th 1788.