Show ContentsMorrein History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Morrein was spawned from the landscape of northern France known as Normandy during the Middle Ages. It comes from the popular Old French given name Maurice.

Early Origins of the Morrein family

The surname Morrein was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where the family has held a family seat from ancient times.

The most unusual descendant of this family was Simon Morin, a visionary, who proclaimed himself as the Son of God and as a result was burned alive in 1663. Several essays were written on him. Two other well known members were Etienne (1625-1700), who was an Orientalist and a Calvinist minister, and Abbot Louis Morin (1636-1715), who was a respected physician and botanist, and a member of the Academy of the Sciences.

Pierre Morin was born in Normandy in 1639. He came to New France and married Marie Martin at Port-Royal, Acadia in 1661. They eventually settled in Beaubassin, Quebec, where Pierre died in 1690. Pierre and Marie had at least twelve children together that carried on the family name of Morin. 1

Early History of the Morrein family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Morrein research. Another 87 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1484, 1499, 1583, 1591, 1630, 1642, 1656, 1659, 1677, 1702 and 1745 are included under the topic Early Morrein History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Morrein Spelling Variations

Most surnames have experienced slight spelling changes. A son may not chose to spell his name the same way that his father did. Many were errors, many deliberate. During the early development of the French language, a person usually gave his version, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. Prefixes or suffixes varied. They were optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, there a many spelling variations of the name Morrein, including Morin, Morins, Morrin, Morrins, Morain, Morains, Morrain, Morrains, Maurin, Maurrin, Maurain, Maurrain, Moren, Morren, Morein, Morrein, de Morin and many more.

Early Notables of the Morrein family

Another 43 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Morrein Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Morrein family

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 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. In 1793, the remaining French in these provinces came under British rule. 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 Morrein were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Morrein were Andrew Morin settled in Philadelphia in 1847; Daniell Morin settled in Pennsylvania in 1685; James Morin, aged 22; settled in New York City in 1822; John Morin settled in Philadelphia in 1851.



  1. Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print


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