I ask because for years I was told by my family that our last name was French. After doing some digging I find out it actually originates in Czechoslovakia. So I was wondering was their a point where Czechs moved to France or other countries? The farthest back I can find my last name is early/pre Civil War America in New York which we have no family members from there. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I just want to know where my family comes from.
Hey! First of all, Czechoslovakia was non-existent in the years you are talking about (pre-CW). So your ancestor must have been from the territory which later became Czechoslovakia (After 1918). But this territory was pretty big and it was shared between different nations/ethnicities, especially during the time of the migration. So about your question: Yes, during the 19th century, mass immigration to the US was typical from then Upper-Hungary, which later became Czechoslovakia and then Slovakia. From this area at least 90.000 Slovaks have migrated to the US. The number of immigrants from Czechia and Moravia (part of Austria) were around 350.000 at the end of the century. The peak of the mass migration was in the second-half of the century so your ancestor may have been one of the 'early birds'. That's all I can say for now. If you'd just PM me your family name (possibly in it's oldest form you know of) I may figure something out about it.