Pol Toye

My family tree

I started looking for my family tree. The first results can be consulted in the following pages. 

I'm especially interested in the family names  Toye, Vercruysse, Steyt, Quartier, Slambrouck, Masure, Tanghe, Lust, Lepouter, Devlaminck, Dekoeyere, Vandenheede, Vanoutrijve, Mestdagh, Oost, Morreeuw, Scherpereel, Vanhoutte, Mulleman, Deryckere, Vanneste, Lietaert, Vandekerckhove, Lesy, Naesens, Vermandele, Vandenberghe, Vanackere, Caveye, Schotte, Brandt, Malfait, Debleeckere, Pelleran, Denutte, Van Hamme.

If one of these names is yours or if one occurs in your family tree, then we might be related. Don't hesitate to contact me, so we can compare our information. My e-mailadress is pol.toye@skynet.be.

I am also most interested in the origins of the TOYE name . Because this name is rather uncommon in Belgium, widespread in Europe and because it has no Flemish stem, I suppose it must be a foreign name, probably  originating from France. According to the study of Dr. Debrabandere (Woordenboek van de familienamen uit Vlaanderen en Noord-Frankrijk), the TOYE  name refers to the old-French word 'toie', which is derived from the Latin word 'theca'. This means scabbard, case and refers to the profession of a man making scabbards. Dr Debrabandere also refers to the name 'toia', which is a variant of the French To(u)ya, a word originating from Béarn (Pyrénées), which means  broom. 

As a matter of fact, quite a lot of Toye's stil live in the Pyrénées, more precisely in the pays de Toy (near the Gavarnie).