Bettencourt (surname)
Bettencourt is a surname from place-names in Northern France. Otherwise the name can be found in French, Portuguese and Spanish-speaking areas in localized variants (see below).
Variants of the name
There are many variants of the surname such as: Betencourt, Bettencourtt, Bettencour, 'Bethancourt, Bethencourt, Bitencourt, Bittencourt, Betancur, Betancurt, Betancurth, Betancor, Bethcourt, Betancourt, Bitancurt, Betanco, and Betencur
The localisations Bitangcur, Bitangcor, Bitangcol and its own variant, Vitangcol, are uncommon surnames found in the Philippines.
Origin
Bettencourt and Bethencourt are originally place-names in Northern France. The place-name element -court (courtyard, courtyard of a farm, farm) is typical of the French provinces, where the Frankish settlements formed an important part of the local population. It translated the Old Low Franconian word *hof "courtyard", "courtyard of a farm", "farm" (Dutch, Old English hof, German Hof)
Bettencourt / Bethencourt corresponds with Bettenhoffen, Bettenhof or Bettenhoven found in Alsace, Germany or Flanders.[1]
The first part Betten- is the Germanic personal name (owner's name) Betto.[2][3]
The surname Bettencourt / Bethencourt with various spellings extended throughout Spain, Portugal and their colonies, after the Norman-French explorer Jean de Béthencourt, who conquered the Canary Islands for Spain and received the title King of the Canary Islands. To this day, Betancourt and other forms of his surname are quite frequent among Canary Islanders and people of Canary Islander descent, in spite of his death without issue, thanks to the practice of baptising the natives with his surname and to the offspring of his nephew Maciot de Béthencourt who succeeded him as lord of the islands.
Examples include former Colombian president Belisario Betancur, former Venezuelan president Rómulo Betancourt, and Hermano Pedro de San José de Betancurt, a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. Other modern notables in recent news are Venezuelan baseball player Rafael Betancourt, Azorean (Portuguese) born American musician Nuno Bettencourt, Colombian-French activist/politician Ingrid Betancourt.
People
Bettencourt
- André Bettencourt – French politician
- Gary J. Bettencourtt – Louisiana Judge
- Liliane Bettencourt – French businesswoman and majority shareholder of L'Oréal.
- Nuno Bettencourt – Portuguese-American guitarist and songwriter
- Paul Bettencourt – American politician
- Tiago Bettencourt – Portuguese singer/songwriter
Betancourt, Bethancourt
- Benjamin Betancourt Aquino – Prominent Puerto Rican Cardiologist
- Agustín de Betancourt (1758–1825) – prominent Spanish structural engineer, educator, and urban planner
- Alfredo Betancourt (1914–2013), Salvadoran writer
- Antonio Esparragoza Betancourt, Venezuelan boxer
- Carlos Betancourt – American artist
- Carmelo Betancourt (born 1993), Puerto Rican basketball player
- Christian Rogelio Benítez Betancourt – Ecuadorian footballer.
- Daniel Betancourt – Ecuadorian singer and composer.
- Danny Betancourt – Cuban baseball player
- Francisco Demetrio Sánchez Betancourt – Venezuelan swimmer.
- Gabriel Betancourt – Colombian politician and father of Íngrid Betancourt
- Íngrid Betancourt – French-Colombian politician
- Jeanne Betancourt – American author
- Joe Bethancourt – American musician
- John Gregory Betancourt – science fiction writer
- Jorge Betancourt – Cuban diver
- Justo Betancourt – Cuban singer
- Kim Betancourt – American publisher
- Lázaro Betancourt – Cuban triple jumper
- Manuel Arteaga y Betancourt – Archbishop of Havana
- María Cristina Betancourt – Cuban discus thrower
- Mat Bethancourt – American musician.
- Michael Betancourt – critical theorist, art and film historian, and animator
- Mick Betancourt – writer
- Miguel Betancourt – Ecuadorian artist
- Nelson Betancourt – West Indian cricketer.
- Peter of Saint Joseph Betancur, Spanish saint and missionary.
- Philip Betancourt – American Archaeologist
- Porfirio Armando Betancourt – Honduran soccer player
- Rafael Betancourt – Major League Baseball pitcher for the Colorado Rockies
- Rómulo Betancourt – President of Venezuela (1945–1948 and 1959–1964)
- Yuniesky Betancourt – Cuban professional baseball player
Bittencourt
- Amaro Soares Bittencourt, Brazilian Major General, diplomat, military and civil engineer, and the first recipient of the United States Legion of Merit (October, 1942)
- Danny Bittencourt Morais (born 1985), Brazilian central defender
- Franklin Bittencourt (born 1969), Brazilian football coach and a former player
- Jacob Pick Bittencourt – Brazilian composer and musician
- Leonardo Bittencourt (born 1993), German football player
- Márcio Bittencourt (born 1964), retired Brazilian professional footballer
- Rafael Bittencourt (born 1971), Brazilian guitarist, composer and co-founder of the band Angra
- Rafael de Andrade Bittencourt Pinheiro (born 1982), Brazilian goalkeeper
- Rodrigo Oliveira de Bittencourt (born 1983), Brazilian defensive midfielder
- Simone Bittencourt de Oliveira, Brazilian singer and a major performer of MPB
Other variants
- Carlos Betancur – Colombian cyclist
- Joseph Bitangcol – Filipino actor
- Rubén Bentancourt, Uruguayan footballer
Legal cases
- Betancourt v. Trinitas – U.S. medical ethics case
Other
- Betancuria, municipality in the Canary Islands, Spain.
- Estádio Jair Bittencourt, multi-use stadium in Itaperuna, Brazil.
- Béthencourt (disambiguation)
- Bettencourt-Rivière, a French commune located in the Somme department.
- Bettencourt-Saint-Ouen, a French commune located in the Somme department.
References
- ↑ Maurits Gysseling, Toponymisch Woordenboek van België, Nederland, Luxemburg, Noord-Frankrijk en West-Duitsland (vóór 1226), 1960, p. 135 (Dutch, French and German)
- ↑ Gysseling 135
- ↑ Albert Dauzat et Charles Rostaing, Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieu en France, Librairie Guénégaud, 1979, Paris, ISBN 2-85023-076-6, p. 78b – 79a.