Arnau History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

The French name Arnau has a history dating as far back as the Middle Ages. This history is intrinsically entwined with that region known as Languedoc, for it was derived from when the Arnau family lived in Arnaud, a village and seigneury in Languedoc, in the south of France. Habitation surnames are names derived from already existing place-names.

Early Origins of the Arnau family

The surname Arnau was first found in Languedoc where they held a family seat in the village and seigneur of Arnaud in the department of Haute Garonne, canton of St.Martory, arrondisement of Saint-Guadens.

Early History of the Arnau family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Arnau research. Another 150 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1560, 1572, 1589, 1591, 1593, 1597, 1612, 1616, 1618, 1619, 1650, 1661, 1671, 1674, 1682, 1692, 1694, 1698, 1699, 1744, 1757 and 1778 are included under the topic Early Arnau History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Arnau Spelling Variations

Most surnames have experienced slight spelling changes. A son may not chose to spell his name the same way that his father did. Many were errors, many deliberate. During the early development of the French language, a person usually gave his version, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. Prefixes or suffixes varied. They were optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, there a many spelling variations of the name Arnau, including Ardnaud, D'Arnaud, Denaurd, Darnaud, Danaud, Arnauld, Darnauld, D'Arnauld, d'Arnaud, d'Arnaud, Saint-Arnaud, St-Arnaud, Arnault, Darnault, D'Arnault, Arnaude, Arnoult, Darnoult, D'Arnoult, Arnoux, Darnoux, D'Arnoux, Arnould, Arneault, D'Arnould, Darnould, Darnaude, Arnaux, Arnau, D'Arnau, Darnau, Darnaux and many more.

Early Notables of the Arnau family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was

Henri Arnauld (1597-1692), a French Catholic bishop, he was offered the Bishopric of Périgueux, but accepted the see of Angers (1650)
Robert Arnauld d’Andilly (1589-1674), a French conseiller d’État, specialising in financial questions, in the court of Marie de' Medici
Antoine Arnauld (1612-1694), French Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician

Arnau migration to the United States +

Approximately 110 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. France gave land incentives for 2,000 migrants during the next decade. Early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. Migration to New France (Quebec) continued from France until it fell in 1759. In the year 1675 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. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The distinguished family name Arnau has made significant contributions to the culture, arts, sciences and religion of France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Arnau were

Arnau Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Joyce ArnaU, who arrived in Virginia in 1664 1

Arnau Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Robert Arnau, who arrived in Virginia in 1714 1

Arnau Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

M Arnau, aged 40, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1820 1
Antonio Arnau, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1837 1
Felipe Arnau, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1846 1
Isaac Arnau, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1868 1

Contemporary Notables of the name Arnau (post 1700) +

Robert Arnau, American politician, Mayor of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, 1959 2
Francesc Xavier Arnau Grabalosa (1975-2021), Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper
J A Giménez Arnau, Spanish playwright
Juan Avilés y Arnau, Spanish military officer
Arnau Riera (b. 1981), Spanish footballer

Citations +

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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html