Family name origins & meanings
- French (Sénécal) : status name for a seneschal, an official in a large household who was responsible for overseeing day-to-day domestic arrangements, from Old French seneschal (of Germanic origin, composed of the elements sini ‘old’ + scalc ‘servant’). The seneschal of a royal or ducal household in the Middle Ages was a very powerful man indeed, often having control over the administration of justice, among other things. In some cases the surname may have originated as nickname for an officious man.
- A Senécal from Rouen, Normandy, France, was in Boucherville, Quebec, around 1648, with the secondary surname <xref>Laframboise</xref>.