I've dabbled alittle in geneology , but my uncle has done research on the family for around 25 years and maintains a family website . I can only trace my fathers side back to around 1740 in NY where they immigrated from New France [[Quebec) as it sometimes referred to . The name [[Paquet) was changed slightly once they moved to the U.S. which was common back then to make it sound more American . My mothers side [[Trudeau) has been traced back further to around 1398-99 in France and didn't appear again until around 1450 in New France [[Quebec) , probably through bad record keeping back then as its believed they arrived in Canada around 1399 . The name has remained the same for us , but some Trudeau's did change the name when immigrating to the U.S. One variation is Trudo . In the 1700's there was a war between England and France and the English basically chased francophones [[the French) out of Canada , many went to Louisiana where they were know as '' Acadians/Cajun '' and thats where the french influence came about in Louisiana .
My Trudeau [[mothers side) heritage includes such notable people as the late Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau and cartoonist Garry Trudeau . Below is a few links , first one is my uncle's website [[about 99.9% francophones/French/French Canadian) and the last 2 is Acadian in case anyone may be looking to connect the dots so to speak with the same heritage .
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb....s/surnames.htm
http://www.acadian.org/crests8.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acadians