Jim, the barrel thing does not work in French. Different words for barrels in which one stores things vs barrel of a gun--the latter being "canon". The only one of my French dictionaries that gives word origins says it's from the Italian "cannone".

I've always thought the Belgian gunmaker Forgeron had the right name, and given how people got their family names, it likely came from the family's historical occupation. "Forgeron" means blacksmith.

Last edited by L. Brown; 01/20/07 09:20 AM.