Perrault History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

The history of the Perrault name began during the Middle Ages in a region known as Brittany. The French name is derived from the popular French personal name Pierre, which comes from the ancient name Petros, or Peter, meaning "rock".

Early Origins of the Perrault family

The surname Perrault was first found in Brittany where they held a family seat in the seigneurie of Launay and Vieux Launay.

They also branched to the regions of Neufchatel, île-de-France, at Chazelle and Courcelles, the Franch Comte at Viseney, Paris (Ablancourt) and Geneva. They were elected to the noblesse as Barons of the Empire. The Pieroway variant is an interesting one. Some sources believe the name to be a Channel Islands variant and a branch of the family settled on Sandy Point, Newfoundland. Today the family can be found in Stephenville, St. Georges and in the Corner Brook area of Newfoundland. 1 Ada Pieroway of St. Georges, married Ronald MacDonald of Antigonish who won the second Boston Marathon in 1898 and Stella Pieroway, a teacher at St. Geroges, married James Ronald MacDonnell, Newfoundland politician who represented St. Georges in the Newfoundland House of Assembly from 1919 to 1923.

Jacques Perrault and his wife Marguerite (née Cache) of Saint-Jacques, Bourgogne, had two sons, François and Jacques. François, a merchant, and Jacques, a surgeon, travelled together to New France in the early 1700's. François married Suzanne Page, daughter of Guillaume and Elisabeth (née Letartre), in Quebec on 26th November 1715. Jacques married Marie-Elisabeth Navers, daughter of Jean-Baptiste and Marie-Françoise (née Sauvin), in Château-Richer on 10th January 1724. 2

Early History of the Perrault family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Perrault research. Another 24 words (2 lines of text) covering the years 1608, 1611, 1613, 1628, 1644, 1661, 1670, 1680, 1684, 1687, 1688, 1691, 1703 and 1717 are included under the topic Early Perrault History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Perrault Spelling Variations

French surnames were subject to numerous spelling alterations depending on the region and time it was used. The early development of the French language relied heavily on borrowing elements and grammar from other languages. For example, Old French was infused with Germanic words and sounds when barbarian tribes invaded and settled in France after the fall of the Roman Empire. Middle French also borrowed heavily from the Italian language during the Renaissance. As a result of these linguistic and cultural influences, the name Perrault is distinguished by a number of regional variations. The many spelling variations of the name include Perot, Perrot, Perrotte, Perreault, Perault, Perrault, de Perrot, De Perrot, De Perot, De Perault, De Perrault, Perrott, Perrau, Perraut, Perroud, Peroud, Perraud, Perrauld, Perauld, Peraud, Perroux, Peroux and many more.

Early Notables of the Perrault family

Notable amongst this name at this time was

Pierre Perrault (c. 1608-1680), Receiver General of Finances for Paris
Charles Perrault (1628-1703), French author of fairy tales, who wrote "Mother Goose Tales", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Sleeping Beauty", "Puss-in-Boots" and "Cinderella"

Perrault Ranking

In the United States, the name Perrault is the 9,410^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3 However, in France, the name Perrault is ranked the 1,025^th most popular surname with an estimated 5,212 people with that name. 4

Perrault 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 Perrault surname were

Perrault Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Eugene Perrault, who settled in New Orleans in 1820
Vincent Perrault, who settled in New Orleans in 1822
Rene Perrault, who landed in Hancock County, Miss in 1874 5

Perrault migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Perrault Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century

Jacques Perrault, who arrived in Quebec from Languedoc in the south of France in 1654
Nicolas Perrault, who arrived in Quebec in 1660
Jean Perrault, who arrived in Quebec in 1688

Perrault Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Francois Perrault, who arrived in Quebec in 1725 from Isle de France
Julien Perrault, who arrived in Quebec in 1726 from Brittany
Pierre Perrault who arrived in Quebec from Angoumois on the west coast of France in 1730
Bernard Perrault, who arrived in Quebec in 1735 from Guyenne
Pierre Perrault, who arrived in Quebec in 1763 from Bourgogne

Contemporary Notables of the name Perrault (post 1700) +

Gilles Perrault (1931-2023), born Jacques Peyroles, a French writer and journalist
Dominique Perrault (b. 1953), French architect, best known for his design of the French National Library
Charles Perrault (1628-1703), French author and member of the Académie française
Michel Brunet Perrault (b. 1925), Canadian composer, conductor, music educator, and percussionist
Olivier Perrault (1773-1827), Canadian seigneur, lawyer, judge and politician in Lower Canada
Joël Perrault (b. 1983), Canadian professional ice hockey centre
Raymond Joseph Perrault PC (1926-2008), Canadian politician, Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and of the Canadian Senate

Citations +

Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland Montreal: McGill's-Queen's University Press 1998. Print. (ISBN 0-7735-1782-0)
Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)