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Abbey History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Abbey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France
Scotland

Of all the French names to come from Normandy, Abbey is one of the most ancient. The name is a result of the original family having lived in Normandy. Their name, however, indicates that the original bearer lived at or near an abbey. The word occurs in contraction with the article, le, meaning the, and thus appears Labbey.

Early Origins of the Abbey family

The surname Abbey was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where the family has been traced from ancient times.

Early History of the Abbey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Abbey research. Another 101 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1350, 1526, 1566, 1607, 1610, 1650, 1662, 1667, 1669 and 1674 are included under the topic Early Abbey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Abbey Spelling Variations

One can encounter great variation in the spelling of French surnames; in part, as spelling, and the spelling names was not yet standardized during the early development of the written French language. Later, there was much branching and movement of families, and spellings would change according to region. Variations of the name Abbey include Labbey, Labey, Labbé, L'Abbey, Labbie, Labie, L'Abbie, Labbee, Labee, L'Abbé, L'Abbée, Labbay, Labay, Labbai, Labai, Labaie, Labbais, Labadie, Labais, de Labbey, de Labey, de Labbay, de Labay, L'Abbaye, de l'Abbaye, Labaye, Labbaye, de Labbai, de Labai, de Labbais, de Labais, de la Bey, de la Bay and many more.

Early Notables of the Abbey family

Notable amongst the family in this period was Louise Labbe, poet; and Philippe Labbe (1607-1667), a French Jesuit writer on historical, geographical and philological questions. Jean de Labadie (1610-1674) was a French...
Another 31 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Abbey Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Abbey Ranking

In the United States, the name Abbey is the 6,457^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 1

Abbey migration to the United States +

Approximately 110 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. France gave land incentives for 2,000 migrants during the next decade. Early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. Migration to New France (Quebec) continued from France until it fell in 1759. In the year 1675 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. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The distinguished family name Abbey has made significant contributions to the culture, arts, sciences and religion of France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Abbey were

Abbey Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Abbey, who arrived in Jamestown, Virginia in 1608 aboard the ship "Second Supply" 2
John Abbey, who landed in Salem, Massachusetts in 1634 2

Abbey Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William D Abbey, who landed in Arkansas in 1880 2

Abbey Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Albert Abbey, aged 4, who immigrated to the United States from London, in 1906
Constantine Abbey, aged 35, who immigrated to America from Leeds, England, in 1914
Allan Abbey, aged 36, who landed in America, in 1918
Ann Abbey, aged 26, who settled in America from Essex, England, in 1919
Alban Abbey, aged 37, who landed in America, in 1919
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Abbey 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. 3

Abbey Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Sarah Abbey who settled in Barbados in 1679

Contemporary Notables of the name Abbey (post 1700) +

George William Samuel Abbey (1932-2024), American former director of the Johnson Space Center (JSC)
Leon Abbey (1900-1975), American jazz violinist and bandleader
Henry Abbey (1842-1911), American poet, best known for his poem "What do we plant when we plant a tree?"
Bert Wood Abbey (1869-1962), American Major League Baseball pitcher
Edward Abbey (1927-1989), American writer and environmentalist
Edwin Austin Abbey (1852-1911), American illustrator and muralist who moved to England and became famous for his graceful depictions of 17th and 18th century England
Henry Abbey, American Democratic Party politician, Chair of Edwards County Democratic Party, 1950 4
Glenn Allan Abbey (1898-1962), American politician, U.S. Vice Consul in Johannesburg, 1928-31; U.S. Consul General in Salonika, 1949-51 4
George W. Abbey, American politician, Candidate for U.S. Representative from Michigan 8th District, 1886 4
Elmer C. Abbey, American Republican politician, Secretary of Colorado Republican Party, 1937 4
... (Another 14 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Abbey Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Sine labe
Motto Translation: Without wavering

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
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)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, September 30) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html