Where is the surname Lavera from?

Question

All I get when I search for it some cosmetic products...

Anyway, my Grandparents just moved to an apartment, so my parents got all of our great-grandparent's things. In the heap of boxes I found one full of my Great Grandmother's journals, from she was 17 and had just moved to Norway (she was using it as a way to learn the language) and until she died at the age of 74. I've actually read all of them (she didn't write very often after she turned 30) and she seems like such a wonderful person, but one thing bothers me and that is she never mention where she's from! Turns out my entire family thought she was born here. The only thing I got to go on is her maiden name which is Lavera.

If my math isn't completely off, I think she came to Norway during the WW1, so she might have escaped from her country or something. (She was born in 1897 and died in 1971)

I have no idea where to put this!

Answer 1

Lavéra is a hamlet of Martigues, a town in the French Provence.

Answer 2

Could it be LaVera? If it's spelled that way as I put it, then it's from French, and she might be from: Canada, France, Louisiana [a U.S. State], or Haiti. Having a French name could mean there's a possibility that she could be from a French-speaking African country [many northern African countries were under French control in 1914 including Madagascar], etc... Or it could be anywhere: People move and settle in areas away from their places of origin most of the time. Maybe you can search Norway's Census records, or try to ask the immigration office, where they might have records of when she came into the country and place of origin  or place of birth? There might be a possibility that she might have changed her name [what's being used on documents might or might not be her birth name, could be a stage name or pen name, depending on her profession, etc...]? Could she be from French Guiana in South America?