Lafayette

Lafayette is a masculine name sure to make those who speak it stand up to attention. While exuding major Aristocratic energy, Lafayette is an Americanized form of the French Lafeuillade and Lafaye, habitational last names that can be interpreted as "the little beech tree." Far from underwhelming, beech trees have been celebrated by many ancient cultures as symbols of prosperity, wisdom, and magnificent change. How fitting that Lafayette's greatest claim is that of French general Marquis de Lafayette, considered a great hero in both the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution.