Show ContentsDuchene History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The proud French name Duchene was formed in Normandy when the family resided in Normandy, at the town of Quesney or Chenay. The family name is a local form of this place name, meaning of Quesney or Chenay.

Early Origins of the Duchene family

The surname Duchene was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where the family dates back to the Gauls in the sixth century when their root name of Cassanus was used according to the French historian Morlet. After the 9th century the family allied and intermarried with the Vikings or Northmen, when they were recorded as an ancient Norman family with seats and estates. Today Chassaing is a settlement in Guadeloupe in the commune of Saint-François, on the island of Grande-Terre.

By the 13th century the family were well established in many regions and several bearers of the family name were rewarded with lands, titles, and letters patent confirming their nobility. Rogiers De Chaigne is recorded as holding lands in Picardy in the 1200's, Jehanot Du Chesne is mentioned in the royal cartularies in 1342, Matheus Cassien of Morcourt in 1340, Jobertus Chenet appears in Picardy in 1227.

By the end of the 1500's the family could also be found as Chenay, Chesnay, Chesnaie, and Cassou in the north, and Cassagne-Lacassagne, Chassagne, Cassan, Chassang, and Chassaing in the south.

The Duchesneau or Le Chesnot were Lords of Brittany until the 1700's when the title was transferred to the Le Forestier family. The LeChene or Duchene's were the Lords of Normandy until 1710 with the marriage of the heiress to a De Prie. Showing their prominence, the Duchesne or Le Chesne were Lords of Brittany, Poitou, Normandy, l'île-de-France, and Sologne. Due to their great wealth, the Deschene family held the lands and manor of the Canton of Belfont. [1]

Pierre Duchesne, born in 1621, son of Jean and Catherine (née Poulet), travelled from Picardie, France to the New World in the 17th century. He married Catherine Rivest on 7th January 1666 and they settled in Sainte-Famille, Quebec, where they remained until his death on 11th March 1697. [2]

Early History of the Duchene family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Duchene research. Another 214 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1584, 1610, 1636, 1640, 1675, 1679, 1682, 1688, 1696, 1725, 1731, 1733, 1745, 1757 and 1758 are included under the topic Early Duchene History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Duchene 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 Duchene is distinguished by a number of regional variations. The many spelling variations of the name include Duchesne, du Chesne, Duchèsne, Duchès, Duchène, Duchêne, Duchêsne, Chisne, Chauny, Chesne, Chesneau, Chenay, Chesnaie, Lequesne, Duquesne, Chene, Chaine, Chand, Chesnot, DuChaine, Duchesneau, Duchesnaux, Descheneaux, Duquesne, LeQuesne, Chassaing, Duchand and many more.

Early Notables of the Duchene family

Notable amongst the family in this period was André Duchesne (1584-1640) French geographer and historian, often called the father of French history; Abraham Duquesne, Marquis du Bouchet (c.1610-1688), a French naval officer; Guillaume Chesneau, chevalier, seigneur, cup-bearer to the king; and his son, Jacques Duchesneau de la Doussinière et d'Ambault, chevalier (died 1696), French intendant of New France from 1675 to 1682; and Jacques Cassagne or Jacques de Cassaigne (1636-1679), a French clergyman, poet and moralist.William Defesch, a Fleming by birth, was organist of the church of Notre Dame at Antwerp, and in 1725 succeeded Alfonso D'Eve as chapel-master there, but...
Another 111 words (8 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Duchene Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Duchene Ranking

In the United States, the name Duchene is the 15,532nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [3] However, in France, the name Duchene is ranked the 682nd most popular surname with an estimated 7,031 people with that name. [4]


United States Duchene migration to the United States +

France finally gave land incentives for 2,000 migrants during the 1700s. Early marriage was encouraged in New France, and 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, leaving French names scattered across the continent. The search for the Northwest passage continued. Migration from France to New France or Quebec, as it was now more popularly called, continued until 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 the treaty of Utrecht, the Acadians were ceded by France to Britain in 1713. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported. They found refuge in Louisiana. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the French race flourished, founding in Lower Canada, one of the two great solitudes which became Canada. Many of this distinguished family name Duchene were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Duchene were

Duchene Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • André Duchene who settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1795
  • Andrias Duchene, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1795 [5]
Duchene Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Andrew Duchene, who arrived in New York in 1804 [5]
  • Edmund Duchene, who landed in Mississippi in 1868 [5]

Contemporary Notables of the name Duchene (post 1700) +

  • Gilbert-Antoine Duchêne (1919-2009), French bishop of the Roman Catholic Church
  • Marysa Baradji Duchêne (b. 1982), French épée fencer
  • Roger Duchêne (1930-2006), French biographer
  • Achille Duchêne (1866-1947), French garden designer
  • Denis Auguste Duchene (1862-1950), French World War I general
  • Maria Duchêne (b. 1884), French contralto of the Metropolitan Opera
  • Kate Duchêne (b. 1959), British actress
  • Deborah Duchene (b. 1962), Canadian film, television, and stage actress
  • Matthew Duchene (b. 1991), Canadian professional ice hockey centre
  • Kate Duchêne (b. 1959), British actress
  • ... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)


  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.
  2. Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
  3. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  4. http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
  5. 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)


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