Show ContentsPiccault History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Piccault 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 Piccault family

The surname Piccault 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 Piccault family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Piccault 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 Piccault History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Piccault 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, Piccault some of which are Picard, Piccard, Picaud, Piccaud, Picart, Piccart, Picarte, Piccarte, Picardet, Pichard, Pichat, Pichault, Picaut, Piccaut, Piccault and many more.

Early Notables of the Piccault 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 Piccault Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Piccault family

In the 1700s, land incentives were finally given out by France to 2,000 migrants. 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, Acadia 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 Piccault were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Piccault 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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