The Laporte surname is sometimes written “de la Porte” or “de LaPorte”. The St-Georges surname has been submitted to the following variations: “Saint-Georges”, “St-George”, “St. Georges” or “St. George”. The rules of the French language would dictate that “St” is in error and that the form “Saint” is mandatory but in practice, only common usage can determine a name’s form or forms.
According to our records, the great majority of Laporte and Quebec-descended St-Georges in America have the same common ancestor in Jacques de LaPorte dit St-Georges. In previous centuries, many people had a “dit” name in North America. This habit disappeared in the 1920s in Quebec following a decree responding to the need to simplify the recording and control of the population especially during censuses.
If many Laporte and St-Georges now live in the province of Quebec, perhaps just as many have emigrated to the U.S.A. and there are still as many in France (even though their number may be smaller than those in North America in total). Some have established themselves elsewhere in the world. There is at least one case in Canada of a Portuguese Laporte born in Pondichery at the Southern tip of India where two enclaves, one French and the other Portuguese once existed with the same name.
Several Laporte and St-Georges are present on the Internet and have their own personal Web pages.