Show ContentsCharton History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Charton dates back to the days of Medieval France, in the region of Normandy. It is derived from their residence in Normandy at Chardon.

Early Origins of the Charton family

The surname Charton was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where this distinguished family has held a family seat since ancient times.

The first record of the family was in 1285 when the Count of Brioude is recorded. Guillaume de Chardon is registered as a taxpayer in 1329 and Pierre de Chardon, Priest, Titular of the vicarage of Saint-Amand, and founder of the Saint-Agrève Church in the town of Puy, is recorded in 1385. Due to his dedication to matters of the society in which he lived, Pierre de Chardon, in 1435, was one of eight notable inhabitants to whom the Baron of Allègre gave the right to build a public building in the fortified castle of Allègre in the event of a siege.

By the 15th century the family was well established in the region of Monlet and several members of the family made a distinctive contribution toward the community in which they lived and were rewarded with lands, titles, and letters patent confirming their nobility. 1

Early History of the Charton family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Charton research. Another 139 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1485, 1643, 1650, 1683, 1700, 1713, 1747, 1751 and 1805 are included under the topic Early Charton History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Charton 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 Charton, including Chardon, Chardant, Chardont, Chardons, Cardon, Cardan, Cardont, Cardant, Cardons, Chardantes, Chardontes, Carrdon, Cardans, Chardonts, Cardone, Cardond, Chardone, Chardones, Charrdon, Cartond, Carrdons and many more.

Early Notables of the Charton family

Notable amongst the family in this period was Antoine-Amable de Chardon, a Knight and the-Lord of Chardon, Souffleyt, Serres and Chazelet; and Sir (John) Jean Chardin (1643-1713), born Jean-Baptiste Chardin, a French jeweler and traveler whose ten-volume book "The Travels of Sir John Chardin" is regarded as one of the finest works of early Western scholarship on Persia and...
Another 58 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Charton Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Charton Ranking

In France, the name Charton is the 839th most popular surname with an estimated 6,090 people with that name. 2


United States Charton migration to the United States +

France finally gave land incentives for 2,000 migrants during the 1700s. Early marriage was encouraged in New France, and youths of 18 took fourteen-year-old girls for their wives. The fur trade was developed and attracted migrants, both noble and commoner from France. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries, leaving French names scattered across the continent. The search for the Northwest passage continued. Migration from France to New France or Quebec, as it was now more popularly called, continued until 1759. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In the treaty of Utrecht, the Acadians were ceded by France to Britain in 1713. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported. They found refuge in Louisiana. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the French race flourished, founding in Lower Canada, one of the two great solitudes which became Canada. Many of this distinguished family name Charton were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Charton were

Charton Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • John Charton, who arrived in Maryland in 1654 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Charton (post 1700) +

  • Jean Charton de Millou (1736-1792), French Jesuit from the parish of Saint-Nizier, in Lyon, confessor of the Religious of the Blessed Sacrament, rue Cassette, in Paris
  • Pierre Charton (1904-1986), French racing cyclist who rode in the 1928 Tour de France
  • Édouard Charton (1807-1890), French literary figure, founder and editor-in-chief of the publication Le Magasin Pittoresque, for fifty-five years (1833–1888)
  • Joachim Charton, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 4
  • Charles-François Charton, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 5
  • Nancy Charton Ph.D (1920-2015), South African priest, the first female ordained priest in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa


  1. Hozier, Charles D, and Antoine Bachelin-Delforenne. État présent De La Noblesse française (1883-1887): Contenant Le Distionnaire De La Noblesse Contemporaine Et Larmorial général De France, Dapres Les Manuscrits De Ch. D Hozier. Librairie Des Bibliophiles, 1884. Print.
  2. http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
  3. 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)
  4. Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 12) Joachim Charton. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
  5. Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 12) Charles-François Charton. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html


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