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Wille History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Wille History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France
England

Of all the French names to come from Normandy, Wille is one of the most ancient. The name is a result of the original family having lived at a place in Normandy, called Ouilly-le-Basset in the arrondissement and canton of Falaise in Calvados. The name is adapted from the French word "oeil," meaning "eye," which was used metaphorically to refer to the source of a spring or fountain. 1

Early Origins of the Wille family

The surname Wille was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where this distinguished family held a family seat in the honor of the seigneurie of Ouilly-le-Basset in the arrondissement and canton of Falaise in Calvados.

Of this family Robert D'Ouilli, the son of Foque D'Aulnay, who was descended from D'Alnay, the first Duke of the Normans of Loire 895-905, joined Duke William of Normandy in the Conquest of England in 1066 A.D. He is referred to by Wace, the chronicler of the Battle of Hastings, as "E cil d'Ouillie," and received the castle of Wallingford in 1067 and possessed sixty-one manors with forty-two habitable houses in the county of Oxford of which he was the Constable.

Wallingford was an ancient Roman castle and Robert D'Ouillie, at the command of William the Conqueror, rebuilt the castle in the Norman style, an impregnable edifice which would play a most significant part in history. He gave much of his estates to Roger D'Ivri, his sworn brother in Arms. This Robert also ceded to Roger his Barony of St. Valery.

René Ouellet, born in 1642, son of François and Elisabeth (née Barre), was one of the first people found in Canada with the name Ouellet. René first married Anne Rivet on 8th March 1666 and he later married Thérèse Mignot on 6th February 1679. Throughout his two marriages René had six sons that carried on the family name of Ouellet. René was buried on 15th January 1722 in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, Quebec. 2

Early History of the Wille family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wille research. Another 46 words (3 lines of text) covering the years 1066 and 1067 are included under the topic Early Wille History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wille 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, Wille some of which are Oueilly, Oueilly, Ouilly, Ouele, Oueillade, Willet, Willett, Williot, Wille, Willette, Willi, Oulette, Ouellet, Oullett, Wellett, Oullette and many more.

Early Notables of the Wille family

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

Wille Ranking

In the United States, the name Wille is the 8,684^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Wille migration to the United States +

In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. Migration was slow. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the French Acadian presence in the Maritimes had reached 500. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The family name Wille has made many distinguished contributions in France and New France to the world of science, culture, religion, and education. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Wille were

Wille Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Wille, who landed in Maryland in 1672 4

Wille Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Sebastian Wille, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1771 4
Jerome Wille, who arrived in Charles Town, South Carolina in 1782 4
Johan Fredk Wille, who arrived in Pennsylvania in 1796 4

Wille Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Dorothea Ernestine Wille, aged 30, who landed in America in 1843 4
Elisbeth Wille, aged 5, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1845 4
Elsabein Wille, aged 1, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1845 4
Friedrich Wille, aged 41, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1845 4
Heinrich Wille, aged 9, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1845 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Wille migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Wille Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Parke M. Wille, (b. 1854), aged 20, Scottish settler travelling from Greenock aboard the ship "Nelson" arriving in Port Chalmers, Dunedin, Otago, South Island, New Zealand on 31st December 1874 5

Wille 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. 6

Wille Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

John Wille, aged 35, who landed in St Christopher in 1634 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Wille (post 1700) +

Lois Jean Wille (1931-2019), née Kroeber, American two-time Pulitzer Prize winning Chicago-based journalist, editor, and author
Virginia Wille, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Kansas, 1984 7
John H. Wille, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Illinois, 1972 7
George C. Wille, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Maryland, 1928 7
David Wille, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Wisconsin, 2004 7

Historic Events for the Wille family +

SS Atlantic

Carolina Wille, who was traveling aboard the ship "SS Atlantic" when it struck rocks off Nova Scotia in 1873, died in the sinking

Citations +

Dauzat, Albert, Morlet, Marie-Thérèse, Dictionaire Étymologique des Noms et Prénoms de France. Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1987. Print.
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/
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)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 12) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html