Duvall History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms
The noble surname Duvall originated in the region of Maine, in France. Duvall is a topographic surname, which is a type of hereditary surname. Topographic names were 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 individuals and their homelands, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, people who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original villages, 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 Duvall is derived from the French word "vallée," which means "valley," and literally means "of the valley."
Early Origins of the Duvall family
The surname Duvall was first found in Maine, where they held a family seat from very early times.
Many members of this family were deeply involved in the events of the times, including the French Revolution. Charles François Marie Duval, a Lawyer, was elected to the Legislature in 1791 as a Deputy of Ille-et-Vilaine, later he became a member of the Convention where he was opposing Robespierre. Charles founded the "Journal des Hommes Libres" and under the Empire he was named Chief of the Office of General Administration.
Another distinctive member at this time, Jean Maurice Duval, Baron, began his career as an Auditor for the State Council in 1809 and in 1810 he became a Prefect. He carried out his duties aggressively and in 1840 he was made a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour. During the late 1800's, Émile-Victor Duval, the General, was the Military Chief of Paris. He was unsuccessful in fighting a "versaillaise" army at Châtillon and as a result, was captured and later killed on the order of Vinoy.
Not all of the family remained in France as the Huguenots of Plymouth, England list "one of the refugees Duval has left his name to the headland of Devil's Point." 1
Pierre Duval, born in 1604, travelled from France to Canada in the 17th century. He settled in Quebec with his wife, Jeanne Labarbe, born in 1605, and their six children. Four of their children passed away while they were living in Quebec. Two of his sons, Pierre and Romain, drowned, Marin was shot, and the fourth died in a fire at île d'Orléans in 1663. 2
Early History of the Duvall family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Duvall research. Another 29 words (2 lines of text) covering the years 1600, 1618, 1643, 1670, 1683 and 1709 are included under the topic Early Duvall History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Duvall Spelling Variations
Spelling variations of this family name include: Duval, Du Val, Duvall, Duwall, Duvalle, Duvalles, Duvale, Duvales, Du Vall, Du Valle, Du Valles, Du Vale and many more.
Early Notables of the Duvall family
Notable amongst the family at this time was General Émile-Victor Duval; and Pierre Duval (1618-1683), a French geographer from Abbeville.
Claude Duval (1643-1670), was and English highwayman, born of poor parents at Domfront, Normandy, in 1643. "A report which was current during his lifetime, that he was the son of a cook in Smock Alley, Without Bishopsgate, is sufficiently discredited. At the age of fourteen he was sent to Paris, where he remained in service till the Restoration, when he came to England in attendance on the Duke of Richmond. It was not...
Another 92 words (7 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Duvall Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Duvall Ranking
In the United States, the name Duvall is the 1,729th most popular surname with an estimated 17,409 people with that name. 3
Duvall migration to the United States +
Some of the first settlers of this family name were:
Duvall Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
- Mareen Duvall (1625-1699), a French Huguenot from Nantes, France who arrived in Maryland in 1650 4
- Marin DuVall, who landed in Maryland in 1659 4
- John Duvall, who arrived in Maryland in 1678 4
- Peter Duvall, who settled in America in 1680
Duvall Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
- John Duvall, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1818 4
- John Duvall, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1821 4
- Anthony Duvall, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1869 4
Duvall Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
- Alice Duvall, aged 30, who settled in America from London, in 1906
- Edith Duvall, who landed in America, in 1910
- Lillian Duvall, aged 24, who immigrated to the United States, in 1914
- Frederick A. Duvall, aged 45, who settled in Cincinatti, Ohio, in 1915
- Wm. Duvall, aged 50, who landed in America, in 1918
- ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Duvall migration to Australia +
Emigration to
Australia followed the
First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:
Duvall Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
- Charles Duvall, aged 17, a tailor, who arrived in South Australia in 1853 aboard the ship "Magdalena" 5
- John Duvall, aged 14, a tailor, who arrived in South Australia in 1853 aboard the ship "Magdalena" 5
Duvall 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.
6Duvall Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
- Joseph Duvall, who landed in Barbados in 1692 4
Contemporary Notables of the name Duvall (post 1700) +
- Carol Jean Duvall (1926-2023), American television personality who hosted the long-running The Carol Duvall Show
- Wayne Duvall Jr. (b. 1958), American actor
- Clea Helen D'Etienne DuVall (b. 1977), American film and television actress
- Shelley Alexis Duvall (b. 1949), American award-winning film and television actress
- Robert Selden Duvall (b. 1931), Academy Award, two-time Emmy Award, and four-time Golden Globe Award-winning American film actor and director
- Gabriel Duvall (1752-1844), American Democratic Party politician, Member of Maryland State Legislature, 1787; U.S. Representative from Maryland 2nd District, 1794-96; State Court Judge in Maryland, 1796-1802 7
- Frank M. Duvall, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Maryland, 1916 7
- E. W. Duvall, American politician, Member of Illinois State House of Representatives 48th District, 1823-25 7
- E. A. Duvall, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Arkansas, 1908 7
- Charles S. Duvall, American Republican politician, Postmaster at Laurel Factory, Maryland, 1866-69 7
- ... (Another 14 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Historic Events for the Duvall family +
Monongah Mine
- Mr. Thomas Duvall (b. 1869), Slavic coal miner who was in mine 6 at the Monongah mine on 6th December 1907 when it exploded and collapsed; he died 8
Suggested Readings for the name Duvall +
- Belt Brasheas and Amelia Duvall: Their Ancestors and Descendants by Sydney Kilpatrick.
- Brisbin/Rose, Sevenker, Hayden, DeVol, Ward Family History by Virginia Hayden Hughes.
Citations +
- Worth, R.N., A History of Devonshire London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, E.G., 1895. Digital
- 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)
- South Australian Register Friday 26th August 1853. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Magdalena 1853. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/magdalena1853.shtml
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
- The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
- Monongah Mining Disaster retrieved on 8th August 2021. (Retrieved fromhttps://usminedisasters.miningquiz.com/saxsewell/monongah.htm).