Chaignon History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

The first known use of Chaignon as a surname occurred in the Forez region of France. Chaignon was originally a name for a person who lived in Forez.

Early Origins of the Chaignon family

The surname Chaignon was first found in Forez, a former province of France, now part of the modern Loire, the Haute-Loire, and Puy-de-Dôme départements, where the family was established in early times.

The family formed many branches, some in other regions. The Chagnon branch gave its name to Chagnon, a village in the department of Loire, in the district of Saint-Étienne. The branch Chaigneau was established in a village in the department of Eure, in the district of Evreux. The branch Chaigne was established in Bordeaux. Several members of this illustrious family distinguished themselves in various parts of France. 1

Early History of the Chaignon family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Chaignon research. Another 128 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1436, 1451, 1471, 1746, 1767, 1769, 1791, 1795, 1800, 1817, 1819, 1830, 1832, 1874, 1883, 1887, 1901, 1906, 1910 and 1915 are included under the topic Early Chaignon History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Chaignon Spelling Variations

The many different spellings of French surnames can be partially explained by the use of local dialects and by the influence of other languages during the early development of the French language. As a result of these linguistic and cultural influences, the name Chaignon is distinguished by a number of regional variations. The many spelling variations of the name include Chagne, Chaigne, Chagnon, Chaignon, Chagnard, Chaignard, Chagnart, Chaignart, Chagnaud, Chaignaud, Chagneau, Chaigneau, Chagneaux, Chaigneaux, Chagnot, Chaignot, Chagnaut, Chaignaut, Chagnaux, Chaignaux, Chagnoux, Chaignoux, Chagnol, Chaignol, Chagnet and many more.

Early Notables of the Chaignon family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was

Pierre Chaignon (1791-1883), a Jesuit

Chaignon migration to Canada +

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 Chaignon. 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 Chaignon were

Chaignon Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century

Léonard Chaignon, a preacher, who was born in Montreal in 1662

Citations +

Dionne, N.-E., Origine Des Familles Canadiennes-Français. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969. Print.