Merleau History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

The surname Merleau is a name whose history dates back to the Middle Ages. It was a Norman name for a someone who bore a fancied resemblance to a blackbird having derived from the Old French word merle, meaning blackbird.

Early Origins of the Merleau family

The surname Merleau was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where this ancient family was established in early times.

The family was admitted to the honors of the Court in 1776, and again in 1789. Pierre-Hughes-Victor Merle was a general, who entered into the nobility in 1809; Jean-François Merlet was a counsel of the Conseil d'État, who entered into the nobility in 1810, and Jean-Joseph Merle was a colonel, who received his title to nobility in 1811.

Guy du Merle was an officer of the Legion of Honour and a lieutenant-commander, and he married Marcelle de Prat in 1907. Jean du Merle was a Contractual Engineer of water and forests, and Marguerite du Merle, a nun, was the secretary of the Mother Superior of Sacré Coeur in Rome.

Early History of the Merleau family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Merleau research. Another 166 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1050, 1302, 1306, 1509, 1560, 1562, 1575, 1731, 1798, 1810 and 1845 are included under the topic Early Merleau History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Merleau Spelling Variations

Changes of spelling have occurred in most surnames. The earliest explanation is that during the early development of the French language, names were not yet fixed in spelling. Usually a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. This depended on accent, and local accents frequently changed the spelling of a name. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there are some spelling variations of the name Merleau, including Marleau, Marleaux, Marlaud, Marlault, Marlet, Marlette, Marlod, Marlot, Marlotte, Marle, Merle, Merleau, Merleaux, Merlaud, Merlault, Merlet, Merlette, Merlod, Merlot, Merlotte, du Merle, Marlout, Marloux, Merlout and many more.

Early Notables of the Merleau family

More information is included under the topic Early Merleau Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Merleau Ranking

In France, the name Merleau is the 6,400^th most popular surname with an estimated 1,000 - 1,500 people with that name. 1

Migration of the Merleau family

By 1643 there were only about 300 people in Quebec. Since immigration was slow, 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. 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. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The distinguished family name Merleau 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 Merleau were André Merlot-LePetit-Laramee, who settled in Quebec in 1678; Louis Edmund Merle, who arrived in New York in 1823; Jean, aged 32; Anne, aged 31; Jean, aged 9.

Citations +

http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/