Also the registres d'options de noms 1808 became a de facto census of the Jewish people of France. The numbers are interesting. According to a list in the Archives nationales there were 46,054 Jewish people in France who chose permanent names. The majority were in the departments of Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin, and Moselle, areas that some Lehrer families lived in. In each, the head of a family, usually the husband and father, gives for each family member his or her name, date and place of birth, and the surname and forenames chosen.