Begin History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

The French name Begin is of Medieval origin. It was a Norman name for a person whose speech is affected by a stutter. The word begin was Old French slang for a person who stuttered. As such, the name is commonly called a nickname.

Early Origins of the Begin family

The surname Begin was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where the family first established itself as an important participant in the cultural and political events of the region.

Jean Béguin was a renown chemist responsible for the discovery of the chemical calomel in 1608. Jacques Begin is recorded as a prominent member of the family who later established himself in the diocese of Lisieux in 1620. Michel Bégon (1638-1710), was a French administrator after whom the "begonia" plant was named in his honor. Jacques-François Begouen, a Count of the Empire under Napoleon and Abbey of Valasse, became a senior member of the Council of State and received his title of nobility in 1808. Along with these credits, he received a large area of land worth over 10,400 francs at the time.

Louis Begin, baptized on 28th September 1636, son of Jacques and Diane (née Meloque), travelled from France to Canada in the 17th century. After arriving in Quebec he married Jeanne Durand, born in 1654, daughter of Martin and Françoise (née Brunet), on 15th October 1668. 1

Early History of the Begin family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Begin research. The years 1525, 1528, 1544, 1631, 1638, 1667, 1702, 1710, 1747, 1808 and 1812 are included under the topic Early Begin History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Begin Spelling Variations

Throughout the course of history most surnames have undergone changes for many reasons. During the early development of the French language, a son and father may not have chosen to spell their name the same way. Many are simple spelling changes by a person who gave his name, phonetically, to a scribe, priest, or recorder. Many names held prefixes or suffixes which became optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, we have many spelling variations of this name, Begin some of which are Begin, Bégin, Begine, Bégine, Beguin, Béguin, Beguine, Béguine, Beguinet, Béguinet, Beguinot, Béguinot, Beghin, Béghin, Begouin, Bégouin, Begon, Bégon, Begouen, Bégouen, Begougne, Bégougne and many more.

Early Notables of the Begin family

Notable amongst the family in this period was Nicolas Lebègue (Le Bègue) (ca. 1631-1702), a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist; François-Barthélémy Beguinot, a Count of the Empire, who became a senator and received his title of nobility in 1808; Michel Bégon, known as Michel V Bégon or le Grand Bégon (1638-1710), a French ancien regime official; and his son, Michel Bégon de la Picardière (1667-1747)...
Another 66 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Begin Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Begin World Ranking

In the United States, the name Begin is the 8,329^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2 However, in Canada, the name Begin is ranked the 674^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,722 people with that name. 3 And in Quebec, Canada, the name Begin is the 242^nd popular surname. 4

Begin migration to Canada +

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

Begin Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century

Louis Bégin of Saint-Léonard de Honfleur, who settled in New France in circa 1654 with his father Jacques (Louis Bégin married Jeanne Durand at Québec in 1668)
Pierre Begin, who settled in Quebec in 1668
Louis Begin, son of Jacques and Anne, who married Jeanne Durang, daughter of Martin and Françoise, in Quebec on 15th October 1668 5

Begin Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Jean-Baptiste Begin, son of Louis and Jeanne, who married Louise Carrier, daughter of Ignace and Périnne-Geneviève, in Lévis, Quebec on 23rd January 1714 5
Étienne Begin, son of Louis and Jeanne, who married Marie-Geneviève Rochon, daughter of Étienne and Charlotte, in Lévis, Quebec on 27th May 1722 5
Jacques Begin, son of Louis and Jeanne, who married Geneviève-Charlotte Rochon, daughter of Étienne and Charlotte, in Lévis, Quebec on 15th June 1722 5
Jean-Baptiste Begin, son of Jean-Baptiste and Louise, who married Marie-Louise Bourassa, daughter of François and Marguerite, in Lévis, Quebec on 23rd November 1739 5
Charles Begin, son of Jean-Baptiste and Louise, who married Suzanne Duquet, daughter of Jean and Geneviève, in Lévis, Quebec on 29th October 1744 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Begin 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. 6

Begin Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Henry Begin, aged 22, who landed in St Christopher in 1635 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Begin (post 1700) +

Z. L. Begin, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Minnesota, 1928 8
Roger N. Begin, American Democratic Party politician, Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island, 1989-93 8
Monique Bégin PC CC FRSC (1936-2023), Canadian academic and politician, Minister of Health and Welfare (1980-1984)
Menachem Begin (1913-1992), sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel (1977-1983)
Steve Bégin (b. 1978), Canadian professional (NHL) hockey player from Quebec
Monique Bégin (b. 1936), Canadian academic and politician, member of the House of Parliament of Canada
Albert Bégin (1901-1957), Swiss literary critic

Citations +

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/
"Surnames Meanings, Origins & Distribution Maps - Forebears." Forebears, https://forebears.io/surnames
"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
Internoscia, Arthur E., and Claire Chevrier. Dictionnaire National des Canadiens Français 1608-1760. Vol. 1, Institut Drouin, 1958.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 29) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html