Beliveau History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The surname Beliveau is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came. The name Beliveau is a contraction of an Old French phrase meaning beautiful valley, and indicates that the original bearer lived in such a place at one time.
Early Origins of the Beliveau family
The surname Beliveau was first found in Burgundy (French: Bourgogne), an administrative and historical region of east-central France, where the family held a family seat from ancient times in the town of Volnay in the district of Beaune.
Jean de Vaux was registered in 1295 as a squire in the fief at Volnay and is thought to be the patriarch of the family. Large areas of land were exchanged at the hands of Jean de Vaux who sold much of the family lands at Antigny to the Duke of Burgundy.
Nicolas De Veau, son of Henri and Anne, travelled from France to Canada in the 17th century. After arriving in the province of Quebec he married Marie-Anne Tremblay, daughter of Jacques, at Ange-Gardien on 4th October 1769. 1
Early History of the Beliveau family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Beliveau research. Another 90 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1555, 1666, 1669 and 1813 are included under the topic Early Beliveau History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Beliveau Spelling Variations
Spelling variations of this family name include: Beliveau, Béliveau, Belivaux, Bélivaux, Belliveau, Bélliveau, Bellivaux, Béllivaux, Belleveau, Bellevaux, de Bellevau and many more.
Early Notables of the Beliveau family
Another 35 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Beliveau Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Beliveau Ranking
In the United States, the name Beliveau is the 13,110th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2 However, in Quebec, Canada, the name Beliveau is ranked the 422nd most popular surname. 3
Beliveau migration to the United States +
Some of the first settlers of this family name were:
Beliveau Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
- Louise Beliveau, 27, who settled in St.-Pierre-and-Miquelon in 1767
Beliveau migration to Canada +
Some of the first settlers of this family name were:
Beliveau Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century
- Jean-Antoine Beliveau, son of Antoine and Andrée, who married Jeanne Bourg, daughter of Antoine and Antoinette, in Port-Royal, Quebec in 1671 4
- Jean-Charles Beliveau, son of Jean-Antoine and Jeanne, who married Madeleine Melanson, daughter of Charles and Marie, in Port-Royal, Quebec in 1696 4
- Charles Beliveau, son of Jean-Antoine and Jeanne, who married Marie Melanson, daughter of Charles and Marie, in L'Acadie, Quebec in 1699 4
Beliveau Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
- Charles Beliveau, son of Jean and Madeleine, who married Marguerite Granger, daughter of René and Marguerite, in Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia on 3rd November 1717 4
- Charles Beliveau, son of Charles and Marie, who married Agnès Gaudet, daughter of Bernard and Jeanne, in Port-Royal, Quebec on 16th October 1725 4
- Pierre Beliveau, son of Jean-Charles and Madeleine, who married Jeanne Gaudet, daughter of Bernard and Jeanne, in Port-Royal, Quebec on 12th January 1728 4
- Joseph Beliveau, son of Antoine and Marie, who married Marie Gaudet, daughter of Antoine and Marie, in Beaubassin, Nova Scotia on 12th October 1733 4
- Louis Beliveau, son of Jean-Antoine and Cécile, who married Louise Haché, daughter of Michel and Anne, in Tracadie-Sheila, New Brunswick on 20th June 1735 4
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Contemporary Notables of the name Beliveau (post 1700) +
- Severin Matthew Beliveau (b. 1938), American lawyer and political party leader, Maine
- Joseph "Jean" Arthur Béliveau CC GOQ (1931-2014), Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens (1950-1971), inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972; his name appears on the Stanley Cup more times that anyone else-17
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/
- "The first 1,000 family names by rank, Quebec (in French only)" Institut de la statistique du Quebec, https://statistique.quebec.ca/en/document/family-names-in-quebec/tableau/the-first-1000-family-names-by-rank-quebec
- Internoscia, Arthur E., and Claire Chevrier. Dictionnaire National des Canadiens Français 1608-1760. Vol. 1, Institut Drouin, 1958.