Play Surname History

Origins Available:
France
England

Normandy is the region of ancient France from which the name Play was derived. It comes from when the family lived in the region of Plessis.

Early Origins of the Play family

The surname Play was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where this distinguished family held a family seat at Plessis.

However, we must look to ancient England to find the first record of the family. For is there that we found John de Plessis or Plessetis (died 1263), Earl of Warwick. He was of Norman origin, and was probably a son of the Hugh de Plessis who occurs as one of the royal knights from 1222 to 1227. He was possibly a grandson of the John de Plesseto who witnessed a charter of John in 1204. 1

Early History of the Play family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Play research. Another 125 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1203, 1585, 1621, 1634 and 1642 are included under the topic Early Play History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Play Spelling Variations

There were a great number of spelling variations in French surnames. One reason for this was the wide variety of cultural influences present in France during the early development of the French language. The many spelling variations of the name include Plessis, Plessieies, Plessier, Plessix, Plessy, Plessys, Le Plessis, Le Plessieies, Le Plessier, Le Plessix, Le Plessy, Le Plessys, Du Plessier, Du Plessix, Du Plessy, Du Plessys, Du Plessix, Duplaix, Deplaix and many more.

Early Notables of the Play family

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

Migration of the Play family

In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. Migration was slow. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the French Acadian presence in the Maritimes had reached 500. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The family name Play has made many distinguished contributions in France and New France to the world of science, culture, religion, and education. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Play were John Louis Plessis who arrived in Quebec in 1713 from Lorraine.

Citations +

Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print