Show ContentsAddam History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The French surname Addam first arose during the Medieval period in the Languedoc region. It is derived from the family having lived in Languedoc.

Early Origins of the Addam family

The surname Addam was first found in Languedoc, where the family held a family seat from ancient times.

The family was believed to have originated from the area of Dieuze. By the 1600's the family came to settle in the region of Languedoc where they became well established and several members of this ancient family became prominent through their contribution to public concerns in the community they lived and were rewarded with lands, titles, and letters of patent confirming their nobility.

Descended from the first ancient branch, Pierre Adam was the head of the second branch of the family while Guillaume Adam was the head of the branch of La Soujeole. In 1705, in recognition of his valuable services to his community and for his countrymen, Pierre became the counselor at the Court of Montpellier. Similarly, his son, François Adam, was chosen to be the counselor at the Audit Office of Montpellier.

Jean Adam, born in 1636, travelled from France to Lauzon in Quebec, Canada in the 17th century. After settling in Quebec he married Marie Mezeray, daughter of René and Nicole. They remained together in Quebec until Jean passed away at Beaumont on 3rd September 1711. 1

Early History of the Addam family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Addam research. Another 243 words (17 lines of text) covering the years 1663, 1735, 1754, 1791, 1792 and 1793 are included under the topic Early Addam History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Addam 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, Addam some of which are Adam, Adame, Adan, Addam, Addame, Addan, Adane, Addane, D'Adam, D'Adame, D'Adan, D'Addam, D'Addame, D'Addan, D'Adane, D'Addane, Adant, Adante, Adent, Adans, Adan, Adent, Aden, Adens, Addant, Addante, Addent, Addans, Addan, Addent, Adden, Addens, Adente and many more.

Early Notables of the Addam family

Another 48 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Addam Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Addam family

In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec, in 1663 there were only 500, 2,000 migrants arrived 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 migrants, both noble and commoner from France. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Migration from France to New France or Quebec as it was now more popularly called, continued from France until it fell in 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 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported to Louisiana. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the French race flourished, founding in Lower Canada, one of the two great solitudes which became Canada. Many distinguished contributions have been made by members of this family name Addam. It has been prominent in the arts, religion, politics and culture in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Addam were Caspar Adam settled in Philadelphia in 1773; Carel Adam settled in Philadelphia in 1739; George Adam settled in New Orleans in 1820; Jean Adam settled in New York in 1774.



  1. Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print


Houseofnames.com on Facebook