Bechard History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

The surname Bechard is a name that evolved during the medieval era in the French region of Champagne. It was originally a name for a person who worked as a butcher. Originally the name Bechard was derived from the Old French word "bochier," which translates to "butcher."

Early Origins of the Bechard family

The surname Bechard was first found in the town of Chaumont in the department of Haute-Marne in the north-east of France. 1

The name is sometimes seen as Leboucher in the north-west parts of France. Other variations of the name also depend on the region of France where the name is found. Some other variations of the name include, Bouchier, Bouchez (north), Bouchey (east), and Bouquier (south). 2

Marin Boucher, born in 1589, married Julienne Baril on 7th February 1611 at Saint-Jean-de-Mortagne, France. They had eight children together in France. Their son, François, was baptized on 22nd November 1617.

Marin's wife, Julienne, died in France on 15th December 1627 and Marin remarried to Perrine Mallet in 1629. Marin and Perrine had two children in France, Marin (b. 1630) and Jean-Galleran (b. 1633). Marin arrived in Canada on 9th August 1634 along with his wife, Perrine, and six of his children, François, Jean-Galleran, Pierre, Guillaume, Marie, and Madeleine.

François married Florence Gareman, daughter of Pierre and Madeleine (née Charlot), on 3rd September 1641 and Jean-Galleran married Marie Leclerc at Château-Richer, Quebec on 10th October 1661. They had five children together. 3

Early History of the Bechard family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bechard research. Another 227 words (16 lines of text) covering the years 1100, 1304, 1506, 1551, 1622, 1635, 1644, 1670, 1703, 1717, 1770, 1787, 1788, 1789, 1806, 1820, 1844, 1861 and 1868 are included under the topic Early Bechard History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bechard 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, Bechard some of which are Boucher, Bouche, Bouchez, Bouchais, Bouchay, le Boucher, de Boucher and many more.

Early Notables of the Bechard family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Jean Boucher, Rector of the University and Vicar of St-Benoît, French naturalist; and Pierre Boucher de Boucherville (1622-1717) who went to Canada from France in 1635 with his father; at the age of 18, he entered the services of the Jesuits and spent 4 years with the Huron missions at Georgian Bay (see Sainte-Marie among the Hurons). He was the first Canadian settler to be ennobled by King Louis XIV and died at his eponymous Boucherville, New France at the age of 95. Alexandre Jean Boucher, was a well-known French violinist, was born...
Another 115 words (8 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bechard Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bechard World Ranking

In the United States, the name Bechard is the 17,456^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 4 However, in Quebec, Canada, the name Bechard is ranked the 882^nd most popular surname. 5 And in France, the name Bechard is the 5,454^th popular surname with an estimated 1,000 - 1,500 people with that name. 6

Bechard migration to the United States +

French settlers came early to North American, following in the wake of the explorers, and creating New France. Quebec City, founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain is said to have been the first American site founded as a permanent settlement, rather than as just a commercial outpost. But emigration was slow, in 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 French people in Quebec, and by 1663, when the region was officially made The Royal Colony of New France, by Louis XIV, there still only around 500 settlers. Over 2,000 would arrive 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 immigrants, both noble and commoner from France. By 1675, there were around 7000 French in the colony, and by that 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. Despite the loss of the Colony to England, the French people flourished in Lower Canada. Among settlers to North America of the Bechard surname were

Bechard Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

James Bechard, aged 35, who arrived in Ohio in 1813 7

Bechard Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

David Bechard, aged 23, who arrived in America from Paris, in 1904
Joseph Bechard, aged 40, who arrived in America from Lacaore, France, in 1907
Paul Bechard, aged 22, who arrived in America, in 1918
Clifford Bechard, aged 17, who arrived in America, in 1918

Contemporary Notables of the name Bechard (post 1700) +

D. Y. Béchard, Canadian-born, American novelist, winner of the 2007 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book
Kelly Bechard (b. 1978), Canadian gold medalist ice hockey player, member of the Canadian National Team
François Béchard (1830-1897), Canadian politician, Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec (1896-1897)
Claude Béchard (1969-2010), Canadian politician and Quebec provincial Cabinet minister, Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (1997-2010)
Albert Béchard (1922-2002), Canadian politician and notary, Member of the Canadian Parliament for Bonaventure (1962-1979)

Citations +

Dionne, N.-E., Origine Des Familles Canadiennes-Français. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969. Print.
Dauzat, Albert, Morlet, Marie-Thérèse, Dictionaire Étymologique des Noms et Prénoms de France. Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1987. Print.
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/
"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
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
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)