Pelkey History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

The French family name Pelkey dates back to the Middle Ages. It was a Norman name given to a furrier. Looking back even further, we found the name was originally derived from the Old French word "pellet", meaning "animal skin", and was used to indicate a person in the trade of removing and selling the skins of animals.

Early Origins of the Pelkey family

The surname Pelkey was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where they held a family seat in the honors of Martinville, Molande, Ravinieres and Houssaye.

After the revolution this aristocratic family were made Barons of the Empire in the early 19th century. They also appeared in l'île-de-France, and Lyonnais and Toulouse to the south of France. Notable was Pierre Pelletier, French chemist, 1788-1842, who discovered, together with Caventou, the sulphate of quinine, and Jean Charles Paltier, French Physician 1785-1845.

Guillaume Pelletier, born in 1598 in Orne, France, came to Canada with his wife, Michelle (née Mabille). They married in France on 12th February 1619 and had two sons before travelling to the New World together. Guillaume worked in Quebec as a carpenter and had six more children with Michelle. Jean, their oldest son, was born on 12th June 1627. He married Anne Langlois in Quebec on 15th November 1649. Jean died in Rivière-Ouelle and was buried there on 25th February 1698. 1

Early History of the Pelkey family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pelkey research. Another 42 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Pelkey History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pelkey 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, Pelkey some of which are Peletier, Pelletier, Pelletiers, Pelletiere, Pelletierre, le Pelletiere, Peltier, Peltiers, Peltiere, Peltierre, Le Peltier, Pellettier, Pellettiere, Peltear, Pelteare and many more.

Early Notables of the Pelkey family

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

Pelkey Ranking

In the United States, the name Pelkey is the 5,732^nd most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 2

Pelkey migration to the United States +

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 Pelkey. 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 Pelkey were

Pelkey Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Fred Pelkey, who immigrated to the United States, in 1906
Henry P Pelkey, aged 20, who immigrated to America, in 1910
Agnes Pelkey, aged 26, who settled in New York City, in 1920
Henry Pelkey, aged 22, who immigrated to Lynn, Massachusetts in 1921
Olive Pelkey, aged 30, who immigrated to Cleveland, O., in 1923
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Pelkey migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Pelkey Settlers in Canada in the 20th Century

Arthur Pelkey, aged 35, who immigrated to Ford, Ontario, Canada, in 1917

Contemporary Notables of the name Pelkey (post 1700) +

Michael Pelkey (b. 1940), American skydiver who is considered one of the founders of BASE jumping
Charles Pelkey, Author and editor of VeloNews.com
Arthur Pelkey (1884-1921), Canadian early 20th century heavyweight professional boxer from Chatham, Ontario, World White Heavyweight Champion (1913-1914)
B.J. Pelkey, Australian coach of the Australian Newcastle North Stars

The Pelkey Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Adversis moveri nefas
Motto Translation: Turning away from wickedness.

Citations +

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/