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    It is immediately evident that these family names are quite different from those of the Acadians. It is true that over the years there has been a mingling of the two traditions, with Acadians settling on the peninsula and Frenchmen moving to the Stephenville area; but the distinction between the two groups holds true, since the "French from France" distinguish themselves from the "Stephenville French: that is, the Acadians.

    Looking at the list of French family names, one notices a certain number of changes in their spelling. This is due in part to the absence of a literate tradition, in part to the effects of assimilation. The Acadians, for example, who have been most susceptible to the pressures exercised by a predominantly anglophone culture, have straightforwardly anglicized many family names. Thus Leblanc becomes White; Benoit (without the circumflex accent in Newfoundland), Bennett; Aucoin, O'Quinn; Lejeune, Young; Alexandre, Alexander. But some families had more urgent reasons to disguise their identities. We know that most of the first French settlers on the peninsula had deserted from the French fishery, and had a real fear of being captured by the authorities and sent back to France.

    A family by the name of Rioux, from Mainland, was known formerly as Boloche, according to oral testimony. Even today the name Leboloch exists in St. Pierre. It is likely that the name change was prompted by the desire to conceal the bearer's identity. One old lady told how, when she was about six years old, she saw a squad of armed French sailors come ashore from a warship. They asked her if she knew where certain men were to be found; she did not, but learned subsequently that the men being pursued had deserted and hidden in the woods behind Mainland until the sailors left. This took place in 1900.