Les noms canadiens...
Many years ago I read a Dick Francis novel which had a French-Canadian character named Baudelaire. His first name was normal enough, and I've forgotten it; but his surname stuck in my head because it sounded so very un-Canadian to me. I've never heard of a Canadian named Baudelaire. Which doesn't mean I've heard every name there is in Francophone Canada; I know they can't all be named Lalonde, Paquette, Thibeau and Derouin. But. I've never checked a phone book... So, curious, tonight I looked up Baudelaire online with www.canada411.com and got no results for people in Montreal or Quebec City with that name.
Come to think of it, I've only ever heard of one person in France with that name, though it's probably not so unusual there.
I suspect Dick Francis just picked the name because he liked it; or because he liked Baudelaire's poetry. I certainly do.
I was thinking about it because I was reading Jilly Cooper - another British author - and she introduced a Canadian character name Eric de Genestre. Again, I blinked: it sounds very unlike a Canadian name to me. And again, when I looked it up, there's no one of that name in Montreal or Quebec City. When I googled for it, I got mostly Italian references: de Genestre, or de Genestra, seems to be an Italian name. Cool. Goodness knows there are plenty of Canadians with Italian names, but the book referred to him as having a French accent. Also possible - there are plenty of people with Italian names living in Québec and other Francophone areas. But still. Every rationalization makes it a little more of a stretch.
I understand that neither Francis nor Cooper are Canadians, and they probably never visited Canada, and I shouldn't be caught up on a detail, but... couldn't they at least pick a name someone in Canada would really be likely to have?
Am I right? Or am I simply speaking in ignorance?