Last name common in the US and Canada, but
ironically, not France. The LeBlanc's left France in 1605 to settle in south Nova Scotia, called l'Acadie, where they are still found. In 1755, the British took NS and exiled many of them, who sailed south, making stops along the Eastern US, leaving
francophone communities from Maine to Georgia. Most of them made the full journey to Louisiana and settled in and
around the city of Lafayette, the heart of Cajun culture. They usually identify as Cajuns, which is short for the French word for people from Acadie, "Acadiens," shortened to " 'Cadiens," to "Cajins", Anglicized as "Cajuns."
LeBlanc is a hard name for Americans, as it uses two sounds that don't exist in English.
1. Unaccented letter "e" is very close to the "oo" sound in the word "look".
2. (Vowel)+(n/m) signals a nasal sound. "An" (similar to "en" and "on") makes a more rounded sound and feels to be coming from the front of the nose. Imagine the English word "on" in a nasal tone but don't close your mouth for the "n" sound.
So LeBlanc is pronounced L(oo, 1)BL(o, 2). Many LeBlanc's have given up getting others to say their name correctly and use an
Americanized version like "LeBl-on" or "LeBl-ah-nc", which is OK. Just never say "LeBlank." That's too far.
It is written
with a capital "B" and no space after "e," which causes headaches on legal docs if not entered the same everywhere. If you are copying it and there's a space, it's best to ask the person if it's correct.
