Rodrigues History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France
Spain

Brittany is the region of ancient France from which the name Rodrigues was derived. It comes from when the family lived in Brittany.

Early Origins of the Rodrigues family

The surname Rodrigues was first found in Brittany (French: Bretagne).

Jean Rodrigue, son of Jean and Suzanne (née Lacroix) of Lisbon, Portugal, travelled to Quebec in the 17th century. He married Anne Le Roy on 28th October 1671. 1

Early History of the Rodrigues family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Rodrigues research. The years 1697, 1717 and 1741 are included under the topic Early Rodrigues History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rodrigues Spelling Variations

One can encounter great variation in the spelling of French surnames; in part, as spelling, and the spelling names was not yet standardized during the early development of the written French language. Later, there was much branching and movement of families, and spellings would change according to region. Variations of the name Rodrigues include Rodrigue, Roderigue, Rodrigues, Roderigues and many more.

Early Notables of the Rodrigues family

Notable amongst this name at this time was Jean-Ignace de Roderigue, who was a Jesuit scholar born in 1697 in Malmedy, near Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1717 he entered the Company of Jesus, to which he was faithful for eight years. After having travelled, he settled...
Another 43 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Rodrigues Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Rodrigues Ranking

In the United States, the name Rodrigues is the 1,389^th most popular surname with an estimated 22,383 people with that name. 2 However, in France, the name Rodrigues is ranked the 189^th most popular surname with an estimated 17,475 people with that name. 3

Rodrigues migration to the United States +

French settlers came early to North American, following in the wake of the explorers, and creating New France. Quebec City, founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain is said to have been the first American site founded as a permanent settlement, rather than as just a commercial outpost. But emigration was slow, in 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 French people in Quebec, and by 1663, when the region was officially made The Royal Colony of New France, by Louis XIV, there still only around 500 settlers. Over 2,000 would arrive 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 immigrants, both noble and commoner from France. By 1675, there were around 7000 French in the colony, and by that 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. Despite the loss of the Colony to England, the French people flourished in Lower Canada. Among settlers to North America of the Rodrigues surname were

Rodrigues Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Emanuel Rodrigues, aged 30, who landed in New Jersey in 1776 4

Rodrigues Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Josefa Rodrigues, aged 50, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1826 4
Charles Rodrigues, aged 33, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1827 4
Domingo Rodrigues, aged 50, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1829 4
Jose Rodrigues, aged 30, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1829 4
Vaxcisco Rodrigues, aged 21, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1829 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Rodrigues migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 5

Rodrigues Settlers in West Indies in the 18th Century

Moses Rodrigues, who arrived in Jamaica in 1740 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Rodrigues (post 1700) +

Nancy Rodrigues, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Virginia, 1996 6
Michael J. Rodrigues, American Democratic Party politician, Elected Massachusetts State House of Representatives Eighth Bristol District 2002 6
J. J. Rodrigues, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 1960 6
Annette T. Rodrigues, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 2008 6
Benjamin Olinde Rodrigues (1795-1851), French banker, mathematician, and social reformer
Rui de Gouveia Pinto Rodrigues (1943-2024), Portuguese football player
Sylvia Gonçalves Rodrigues Leite (1929-2023), known professionally as Lolita Rodrigues, a Brazilian actress, singer, radio personality and television presenter
Christina Rodrigues (1973-2020), Brazilian actress and humorist who died from CIVID-19
Arquimínio Rodrigues da Costa (1924-2016), Portuguese prelate, Bishop of Macau (1976–1988)
Hermes Rodrigues da Fonseca (1855-1923), Brazilian soldier and politician
... (Another 8 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

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/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 5) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html