Jean Ducas or Jean Dugas?
Although most of the ancestors of Jean Ducas carry the surname Dugas today, it seems very clear that our ancestor was not a Dugas, but a Ducas. On the left, a copy of our ancestor's marraige record clearly shows the name Ducas. This is also the case with the notary records, written by Jean Duprac. Combined with the presence of the name Ducas and Ducha in Oloron, it seems quite evident he was a Ducas. From this point the situation gets murky. Some of his children used the dit name Labrèche, and by the third generation all used the name Duga Dugas or Labreche. Was this a series of spelling errors? Eventually all the descendents of Jean Ducas used the name Dugas Degon or Labreche. Also, at first glance it appears our ancestor had no contact or connection to the descendents of Abraham Dugas in Acadia, Jean Ducas did serve in the military under Michel Leneuf de la Valliere, who was governor of Acadia and lived in Beaubassin in 1686, a village of 129 people, including 4 Dugas households. Did our ancestor have contact with the other family that carries the Dugas name? Today, Jean Ducas' descendents go by the names Dugas, Dugaw, Duga, Degon and Labrèche. As for the Acadian Dugas family, they were referred to as Duga, Dugas, Dugast and even Di Gaw by the british who occupied Acadia.