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Alain History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Alain History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

Alain is an ancient French surname that came from the region of Normandy, and is derived from the ancient given name Allen, meaning rock. This type of surname is known as a patronymic name, and comes from a broad category of surname types, known as hereditary surnames. Today there is a small town named Allain in north-eastern France.

Early Origins of the Alain family

The surname Alain was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where this family held a family seat since very early times.

During the early Middle Ages the members of the family distinguished themselves through their involvement in the politics of the country, focusing on the welfare of their province. Through the years the family prospered and grew, and therefore branched into to several other areas.

By the 1700's members were prominently engaged in politics and François Allain was elected deputy at the Estates General at Saint-Malo in 1789. A member of this family who became notable through his contribution to society was François-Marie Allain de Launay, who served the King as Counselor and was elected President of the municipal district of Carhaix.

Descending from the original line of Normandy, François-Mathieu Alein, who came from a branch family, was the legal agent of the imperial treasure at Mouzon. He was highly esteemed and therefore elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly.

Simon Alain, born in 1646 and baptized on 18th August 1648, son of André and Catherine (née Marc), travelled from Rouen, Normandy to Canada in the 17th century. After arriving in Quebec he married Jeanne Maufait, daughter of Pierre and Marie (née Duval), on 15th April 1670. 1

Early History of the Alain family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Alain research. Another 106 words (8 lines of text) covering the year 1113 is included under the topic Early Alain History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Alain Spelling Variations

Changes of spelling have occurred in most surnames. The earliest explanation is that during the early development of the French language, names were not yet fixed in spelling. Usually a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. This depended on accent, and local accents frequently changed the spelling of a name. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there are some spelling variations of the name Alain, including Alain, Alains, Alin, Alein, Alan, Allain, Allains, Allin, Allein, Allan, Aland, Alland, Aling, Alling, Alen, Allen, Aleng, Alleng, Alène and many more.

Early Notables of the Alain family

More information is included under the topic Early Alain Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Alain Ranking

In Quebec, Canada, the name Alain is the 434^th most popular surname. 2 However, in France, the name Alain is ranked the 1,797^th most popular surname with an estimated 3,418 people with that name. 3

Alain migration to the United States +

French settlers came early to North American, following in the wake of the explorers, and creating New France. Quebec City, founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain is said to have been the first American site founded as a permanent settlement, rather than as just a commercial outpost. But emigration was slow, in 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 French people in Quebec, and by 1663, when the region was officially made The Royal Colony of New France, by Louis XIV, there still only around 500 settlers. Over 2,000 would arrive during the next decade. Early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. Youths of 18 took fourteen-year-old girls for their wives. The fur trade was developed and attracted immigrants, both noble and commoner from France. By 1675, there were around 7000 French in the colony, and by that same year the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported to Louisiana. Despite the loss of the Colony to England, the French people flourished in Lower Canada. Among settlers to North America of the Alain surname were

Alain Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

George Alain, aged 24, who arrived in New England in 1635 4

Alain Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

M. Alain, aged 48, who settled in New Orleans in 1823

Alain migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Alain Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century

Simon Alain, son of André and Catherine, who married Jeanne Maufait, daughter of Pierre and Marie, in Quebec on 15th April 1670 5
Charles Alain of Châtellerault, married Louise Gargotine, daughter of Jacques and Françoise, in L'Ange-Gardien, Quebec on 7th January 1678 5
Mr. Jacques Alain, French settler travelling to Canada for work arriving on 28th March 1678 6
Louis Alain of France, who married Marguerite Bourg, daughter of Antoine and Antoinette, in Port-Royal, Quebec in 1690 5

Alain Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Noel-Simon Alain, son of Simon and Jeanne, who married Marie-Anne Hamel, daughter of Jean-François and Anne, in Lorette, Quebec on 19th January 1706 5
Noël Simon Alain, who married Marie-Anne Hamel in Québec in 1706
Jean Alain married Marguerite Bergé, daughter of Jean and Madeleine, in Quebec on 22nd November 1706 5
Pierre Alain, who married Anne Racine in Québec in 1713
Pierre Alain, son of Simon and Jeanne, who married Anne Racine, daughter of François and Marie, in Sainte-Anne, Quebec on 22nd February 1713 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Alain migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 7

Alain Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

William Alain, aged 25, who landed in Barbados in 1634 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Alain (post 1700) +

Albert Paul Alain (1880-1971), French organist and composer
Olivier Alain (1918-1994), French organist, pianist, musicologist and composer, son of Albert Alain
Marie-Claire Alain (1926-2013), French organist and organ teacher, daughter of Albert Alain
Jehan Alain (1911-1940), French organist and composer from Saint-Germain-en-Laye, son of Albert Alain
Phil Alain (b. 1968), Canadian contemporary painter from St. Albert, Alberta, known for his mural works
Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille (1942-2023), French racing driver who raced in 55 Formula One Grands Prix
Guillaume Alain Gille (b. 1976), retired French handballer and current coach of the French national team, six time gold medalist
Roland Alain Daigle (b. 1954), Canadian NHL ice hockey forward who played from the Chicago Black Hawks from 1974 to 1975
Didier Alain Levée, physician, Bayeux, France
Alain Bernard (b. 1983), former French swimmer

Citations +

Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
"The first 1,000 family names by rank, Quebec (in French only)" Institut de la statistique du Quebec, https://statistique.quebec.ca/en/document/family-names-in-quebec/tableau/the-first-1000-family-names-by-rank-quebec
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Internoscia, Arthur E., and Claire Chevrier. Dictionnaire National des Canadiens Français 1608-1760. Vol. 1, Institut Drouin, 1958.
Debien, Gabriel. Liste Des Engagés Pour Le Canada Au XVIIe Siècle. Vol. 6, Laval University, 1952. (Retreived 24th May 2018). Retrieved from https://lebloguedeguyperron.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/130-liste-des-contrats-dengagement-pour-la-nouvelle-france-releves-a-la-rochelle-entre-1634-et-1679/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies