Category:French untitled nobility

This category contains people of the most modest rank of French nobility, sometimes designated by the nobiliary particle de added to their surnames, but without other nobles titles such as Count, Duke, Marquis, etc.

The use of de in noble names (Fr: la particule) was not officially controlled in France (unlike von in the German states), and is not reliable evidence of the bearer's nobility. A simple tailor could be named Marc de Lyon, as a sign of his birthplace. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the de was adopted by some non-nobles (like Honoré de Balzac) in an attempt to appear noble