Show ContentsDumas History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Dumas family

The surname Dumas was first found in Languedoc where this distinguished family held a family seat in the seigneurie of Le Mas in the arrondissement of d'Auriol where they were located several centuries before their official registry in 1487.

Some of the family branched to Marveille, Cultures, Souster, and Brugayrolles, in that same south-western province and to Limousin, and Ronnais, where they held a family seat at l'Isle. One branch was elevated to the nobility in Pays d'Aunis on the west coast of France, as the Comtes Dumas. This branch moved to île-de France. They also branched to Lorraine and Maine.

Pierre Dumas, born in 1669, son of Pierre and Isabelle, travelled from France to Canada in the 17th century. After arriving in the Canadian province of Quebec he married Marie Verreau, daughter of Barthelemi and Marthe, at Château-Richer on 16th February 1699. They remained together in Quebec until Marie's death on 25th February 1703. [1]

Early History of the Dumas family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dumas research. Another 71 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1668, 1706, 1721, 1745, 1753, 1762, 1789, 1794, 1796, 1800, 1802, 1806, 1824, 1837, 1870, 1884 and 1895 are included under the topic Early Dumas History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dumas Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Dumas, Dumais, Dumay, Dumat, Le Dumas, Dumets and others.

Early Notables of the Dumas family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was

  • Pierre Benoît Dumas (1668-1745) was the French Governor General for Pondichéry and Réunion. Predecessor of La Bourdonnais on the Isles and Dupleix in the Indies, Dumas hailed from Southern France. The...
  • Charles William Frédéric Dumas (1721-1796) was a man of letters living in the Dutch Republic who served as an American diplomat during the American Revolution
  • Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, known as Alexandre Dumas (1762-1806), was a French general in Revolutionary France. Along with Toussaint Louverture in Haiti and Abram Petrovich Gannibal...
  • Alexandre Dumas, born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (1802-1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where père is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a Fren...

Dumas World Ranking

In the United States, the name Dumas is the 1,491st most popular surname with an estimated 19,896 people with that name. [2] However, in Canada, the name Dumas is ranked the 540th most popular surname with an estimated 9,053 people with that name. [3] And in Quebec, Canada, the name Dumas is the 238th popular surname. [4] France ranks Dumas as 76th with 33,890 people. [5]


United States Dumas migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Dumas Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Jerome Dumas, who landed in Jamestown, Va in 1700 [6]
Dumas Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Raimundo Dumas, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1816 [6]
  • W H Dumas, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1850 [6]
  • J Dumas, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1856 [6]
  • Pablo Dumas, aged 21, who arrived in Mobile, Ala in 1858 [6]

Canada Dumas migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Dumas Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century
  • François Dumas, who arrived in Quebec in 1687 from Isle de France
  • Pierre Dumas, who arrived in Quebec in 1699 from Angoumois on the west coast of France, near Bordeaux
Dumas Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
  • François Dumas, who arrived in Quebec in 1761
  • Franc-Liberal Dumas, who arrived in Quebec in 1761 from Guyenne

West Indies Dumas 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. [7]
Dumas Settlers in West Indies in the 18th Century
  • Antoine Dumas, aged 15, who landed in Cuba in 1785 [6]

Contemporary Notables of the name Dumas (post 1700) +

  • Amy Christine Dumas (b. 1975), better known by her ring name Lita, an American animal welfare activist, singer and retired professional wrestler
  • Gerald "Jerry" Dumas (1930-2016), American cartoonist, best known for his Sam and Silo comic strip
  • Brigadier-General Walter Alexander Dumas (1893-1952), American Director of Plans & Operations 10th Army (1943-1945) [8]
  • Roger Dumas (1932-2016), French film actor
  • Mathieu Dumas, French Divisional General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 [9]
  • Jean Louis Dumas, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 [10]
  • Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, French Divisional General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 [11]
  • Guillaume Mathieu Dumas de Saint-Marcel, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 [12]
  • Anne Joseph Dumas, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 [13]
  • Major-General Paul-Henri Dumas (1894-1964), French Commanding Officer French Occupation Troops in Vorarlberg (1945-1946) [14]
  • ... (Another 5 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)


Suggested Readings for the name Dumas +

  • Notes On the Dumas Families of Union Parish, Louisiana by John H. Wilson, Carine Dumas Nolan, and Lorena Craighead Dumas.
  • Pierre Dumas: His Life and His Descendants 1756-1986 by Hallie Arden DeMass Sweeting.

  1. Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
  2. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  3. "Surnames Meanings, Origins & Distribution Maps - Forebears." Forebears, https://forebears.io/surnames
  4. "The first 1,000 family names by rank, Quebec (in French only)" Institut de la statistique du Quebec, https://statistique.quebec.ca/en/document/family-names-in-quebec/tableau/the-first-1000-family-names-by-rank-quebec
  5. http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
  6. 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)
  7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
  8. Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2012, January 24) Walter Dumas. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Dumas/Walter_Alexander/USA.html
  9. Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 25) Mathieu Dumas. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
  10. Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 25) Jean Dumas. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
  11. Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 25) Thomas-Alexandre Dumas. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
  12. Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 25) Guillaume Dumas. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
  13. Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 25) Anne Dumas. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
  14. Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2011, October 4) Paul-Henri Dumas. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Dumas/Paul-Henri/France.html


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