Lafayette (name)
Lafayette or La Fayette, is originally a surname or a toponym coming from the Occitan words la faieta and that designates a beech forest.
Due to the fame of American Revolutionary War commander Marquis de Lafayette, Lafayette is also a given name in the United States.
Notable people with the name include:
Surname
- Andrée Lafayette, French actress
- Bernard Lafayette, American civil rights activist and organizer
- Ivan Lafayette, longtime member of the New York State Assembly
- James Lafayette, pseudonym of James Stack Lauder, portrait photographer,
- James Armistead Lafayette, aka James Armistead, African-American Revolutionary War spy
- Nathan LaFayette, former National Hockey League player
- Oliver Lafayette, American professional basketball player
- Ross Lafayette, English professional footballer
- Ruby Lafayette, American film actress
Given name
- Lafayette C. Baker, American investigator and Union spy during the American Civil War; promoted for his part in apprehending Lincoln's assassins
- Lafayette Bunnell, American physician, explorer and author
- Lafayette Caskey, a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
- La Fayette Eastman, a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
- LaFayette Emmett, American lawyer, second attorney general of the Minnesota Territory and first chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court
- Lafayette L. Foster, American academic administrator, politician, and journalist
- Lafayette S. Foster, American senator from Connecticut and Connecticut Supreme Court judge
- Lafayette Gilchrist, American jazz pianist and composer
- La Fayette Grover, American Democratic politician and lawyer from the U.S. state of Oregon
- Lafayette Guild, United States Army and Confederate States Army surgeon; pioneer in the study of yellow fever
- Lafayette Head, Colorado legislator and first Lieutenant Governor of Colorado
- Lafayette Holbrook, mayor of Provo, Utah
- Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, better known as L. Ron Hubbard, science fiction author and founder of Scientology
- Lafayette Lane, Representative from Oregon
- Lafayette Leake, blues and jazz pianist, organist, vocalist and composer
- Lafayette S. Lafe McKee, American actor who appeared in more than 400 films from 1912 to 1948.
- LaFayette Fayette McMullen, American politician and banker; Virginia state senator, member of the U.S. and Confederate House of Representatives, and Territorial Governor of Washington
- Lafayette McLaws, Confederate general during the American Civil War
- Lafayette Mendel, American biochemist
- Lafayette F. Mosher, American politician and judge in Oregon
- Lafayette Lever, also known as "Fat Lever", former professional basketball player
- LaFayette L. Patterson, Representative from Alabama
- Lafayette Russell, college and National Football League running back
- Lafayette Young, newspaper reporter and editor, and briefly Republican Senator from Iowa