Show ContentsPicardet History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Picardet has a long French heritage that first began in northwestern region of Brittany. The name is derived from when the family lived in Brittany.

Early Origins of the Picardet family

The surname Picardet was first found in Picardy (Picardie in French) where they held a family seat in the seigneurie of Vieilleville, an honor held by the family for several centuries.

"The Société des Antiquaires de Picardy, it appears, considers that Picard denoted a pike-man; and it is surmised that Picardie was famous tor this class of soldier." 1

Early History of the Picardet family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Picardet research. Another 74 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1540, 1620, 1669, 1670, 1673, 1682 and 1733 are included under the topic Early Picardet History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Picardet Spelling Variations

There were a great number of spelling variations in French surnames. One reason for this was the wide variety of cultural influences present in France during the early development of the French language. The many spelling variations of the name include Picard, Piccard, Picaud, Piccaud, Picart, Piccart, Picarte, Piccarte, Picardet, Pichard, Pichat, Pichault, Picaut, Piccaut, Piccault and many more.

Early Notables of the Picardet family

Notable amongst the family name at this period was Jean Picard, a French bookbinder and bookseller, active in the 1540s; and Bernard Picart (1673-1733), a French engraver, known for his book-illustrations, including the Bible and Ovid. Jean-Félix Picard (1620-1682) was a French astronomer...
Another 41 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Picardet Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Picardet family

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 Picardet. 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 Picardet were Pierre Picard, one of the earliest settlers, arrived in Quebec from Normandie in 1629; Hugues settled in New France from Brittany in 1665; Louis Picard arrived in Quebec from Ile-de-France in 1759.



  1. Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print


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