Show ContentsValay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Valay has a long French heritage that first began in the northern region of Normandy. The name is derived from when the family lived at Valois, in Normandy. This place-name is extremely common in France and is derived from the Old French word valois, meaning valley.

Early Origins of the Valay family

The surname Valay was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where this distinguished family held a family seat at Murcay, and were members of the aristocracy of that region.

Early History of the Valay family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Valay research. Another 98 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1603 and 1676 are included under the topic Early Valay History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Valay Spelling Variations

Changes of spelling have occurred in most surnames. The earliest explanation is that during the early development of the French language, names were not yet fixed in spelling. Usually a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. This depended on accent, and local accents frequently changed the spelling of a name. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there are some spelling variations of the name Valay, including Valois, Vallois, Valloy, Valay, Vallay, Valais, Vallais, Vallouy, Valouy, Vallour, Valour, Valliot, Valiot, Vallos, Valos, Valloir, Valoir, Valluy, Valuy, Le Valois, Le Vallois, De Valois and many more.

Early Notables of the Valay family

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

Migration of the Valay 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 Valay were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Valay were Francois Valois who settled in Quebec in 1762 from Orlé anais; Jacques Valois arrived in Quebec in 1684 from Saintonge on the west coast of France near Bordeaux, but this is thought to be the port of embarkation, rather than his home province..



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