Show ContentsArchambau History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The Archambau surname is derived from a personal name, which derives from the Latin "Arcambaldus". According to etymologists, this personal name is in turn derived from the ancient Germanic elements "Ercan", meaning "precious", and "bald", meaning "bold" and "daring". 1

Early Origins of the Archambau family

The surname Archambau was first found in Limousin, situated in the north-western part of the Massif-Central where one can trace the origin of this eminent family settled with lands and seats.

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance some members of the family distinguished themselves through many contributions to the community and province in which they held a family seat, and some were granted certain privileges, land and a place amongst the French nobility. Through the years, some of the members branched to Orleans and south of Paris. Thus the province of Burgundy has been the seat of the eminent family of the Archambault de Beaunes for several centuries.

There is evidence of the family later branching northwards, under the name of Archambault, as the name can be found today in the Parisian region as well as in the former province of Orléanais, located around the middle of Loire. This was part of the Royal domain since the 10th century, and which was to be annexed to the French crown in the middle of the 15th century. The noble family of Archimbaud also settled in the province of Provence, located in the South of France.

Early History of the Archambau family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Archambau research. Another 88 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1242, 1604 and 1688 are included under the topic Early Archambau History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Archambau 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, Archambau some of which are Archambault, Archambaut, Archambeault, Archambeau, Archambeaux, Archambau, Archambaux, Archambot, Archambod, Archambode, Archambold, Archambolde, Archambote, Archambolt, Archambolte, Archambauld, Archambaulde, Archambaud, Archambaude, Archambaute, d'Archambault, d'Archambaut, d'Archambeault and many more.

Early Notables of the Archambau family

Notable amongst the family was

  • Archambault de Beaume. Archambaud VIII of Bourbon (d. 1242) was a ruler of Bourbonnais (present day Auvergne)

Migration of the Archambau family

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 Archambau 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 Archambau were Jacques Archambault and his wife Françoise Tourault and their six children, who left from Dompierre sur Mer in 1645-6 for Québec; Laurent Archambault married Catherine Marchand in Montré.



  1. Hozier, Charles D, and Antoine Bachelin-Delforenne. État présent De La Noblesse française (1883-1887): Contenant Le Distionnaire De La Noblesse Contemporaine Et Larmorial général De France, Dapres Les Manuscrits De Ch. D Hozier. Librairie Des Bibliophiles, 1884. Print.


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