Contents [hide]

Gabriel History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables World Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Gabriel History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France
Italy

The ancient surname of Gabriel is from the Normandy region of France. This surname came from the given name Gavriel, which means God has given me strength.

Early Origins of the Gabriel family

The surname Gabriel was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where they held a family seat in the department of Calvados in the region of Caen, where they were a distinguished family of great nobility. The family name was originally spelled Gabriaut. In the same early period, about the 11th and 12th century, they branched to Brittany and Poitou.

Early History of the Gabriel family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gabriel research. Another 65 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1502, 1572, 1698 and 1782 are included under the topic Early Gabriel History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gabriel Spelling Variations

History has changed the spelling of most surnames. During the early development of the French language in the Middle Ages, a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there spelling variations of the name Gabriel, some of which include Gabriaut, Gabriau, Gabriault, Gabriel, Gabriele, Gabriell, Gabrielle, Gabrel, Gabrelle, Le Gabriel and many more.

Early Notables of the Gabriel family

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

Gabriel World Ranking

In the United States, the name Gabriel is the 1,509^th most popular surname with an estimated 19,896 people with that name. 1 However, in Newfoundland, Canada, the name Gabriel is ranked the 808^th most popular surname with an estimated 50 people with that name. 2 And in France, the name Gabriel is the 838^th popular surname with an estimated 6,113 people with that name. 3

Gabriel 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 Gabriel were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Gabriel were

Gabriel Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Jane Gabriel, who landed in Virginia in 1653 4

Gabriel Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Antoine Gabriel, who arrived in Louisiana in 1719 4
Charles Gabriel, who settled in Louisiana in 1752
Henrich Burchard Gabriel, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1752 4
Joh Carl Gabriel, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1765 4
Johannes Gabriel, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1769 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Gabriel Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Johan Gabriel, who settled in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife Marie in the same year
Don Gabriel, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1827 4
Juan Gabriel, who arrived in Rio de la Plata in 1835 4
Francisco Gabriel, aged 4, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1836 4
Florence Gabriel, aged 10, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1836 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Gabriel migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Gabriel Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century

Suzanne Gabriel, who arrived in Montreal in 1659

Gabriel Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Andre Gabriel, who settled in Codroy and Rivers, Newfoundland in 1871 5
Ferdinand and Frederick Gabriel, who settled in Quebec in 1873

Gabriel migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Gabriel Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. William Gabriel, British Convict who was convicted in Kent, England for life , transported aboard the "Commodore Hayes" in April 1823, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 6

Gabriel migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Gabriel Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Miss Mary A. Gabriel, (b. 1860), aged 23, Cornish general servant departing on 25th October 1883 aboard the ship "Waitangi" arriving in Lyttelton, Canterbury, New Zealand on 13th January 1884 7

Gabriel 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. 8

Gabriel Settlers in West Indies in the 18th Century

Benjamin Rodrigues Gabriel, who landed in Jamaica in 1740 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Gabriel (post 1700) +

Peter Brian Gabriel (b. 1950), British singer, musician, and songwriter, original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis, perhaps best known for his solo "Solsbury Hill," recipient of numerous awards including six Grammy Awards, thirteen MTV Video Music Awards, the first Pioneer Award at the BT Digital Music Awards, the Q magazine Lifetime Achievement, the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement, and the Polar Music Prize and the Man of Peace award from the Nobel Peace Prize laureates in 2006, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010
Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Jr. (1940-2024), former American football player
John Gabriel (1931-2021), born Jack Monkarsh, an American actor, singer-lyricist, and producer, best known for his role as Seneca Beaulac in Ryan's Hope (1975–1985) and (1988–1989)
Ethel Nagy Gabriel (1921-2021), American record producer and record executive, she produced over 2,500 music albums including 15 RIAA Certified Gold Records, winner of a Grammy Award in 1982 and also produced six Grammy-winning albums
Franklin T. Gabriel, American fighter pilot and flying ace in the U.S. Navy, during World War II, credited with 8¼ aerial victories
Pierre Gabriel (1933-2015), French mathematician
Claude Gabriel de Choisy, French Divisional General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 9
Ange-Jacques Gabriel (1698-1782), the most prominent French architect of his generation
Ms. Marie Sylvia Gabriel C.B.E. (b. 1961), British Chair for East London NHS Foundation Trust, was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 8th June 2018, for services to the NHS 10
Gunter Gabriel (1942-2017), born Günter Caspelherr, a German singer, musician and composer
... (Another 8 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
The order of Common Surnames in 1955 in Newfoundland retrieved on 20th October 2021 (retrieved from Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland by E.R. Seary corrected edition ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
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)
Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 4th March 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/commodore-hayes
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 30). Emigrants to Lyttelton 1858-84 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/new_zealand_assisted.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 12) Claude Gabriel. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
"Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62507, 28 December 2018 | London Gazette, The Gazette, Dec. 2018, www.thegazette.co.uk/honours-lists