Contents [hide]

Barret History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Barret History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France
Ireland

The history of the Barret family goes back to the Medieval landscape of northern France, to that coastal region known as Normandy. Barret is a habitation name, derived from the place name Barrault, in Normandy. 1

Early Origins of the Barret family

The surname Barret was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where they held a family seat in the village of Charente in the arrondissement de Chatelle Rault. 2

"Formerly the Carmelites were called the Barred Brothers, because of their clothes. Du Cange says that barette is the noun of the verb bareter, to exchange, to trade. Moisy says that in Normandy the name of churn to the churn to make butter is given." 2

Early History of the Barret family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Barret research. Another 64 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1658, 1706, 1711, 1804 and 1874 are included under the topic Early Barret History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Barret Spelling Variations

There were a great number of spelling variations in French surnames. One reason for this was the wide variety of cultural influences present in France during the early development of the French language. The many spelling variations of the name include Baratte, Barate, Barat, Barrat, Barat, Baraud, Barraud, Barrault, Barault, Bareau, Barreau, Barau, Barrau, Barou, Barrou, Barot, Barrot, Barott, Barrott, Barrotte, Barotte, Barratt, Barrat, Baratt, Barre, Barry, Barrett, Barrette, Barret, Barett, Barrit, Barritt, Barritte, Barre and many more.

Early Notables of the Barret family

Notable amongst the family in this period was

Apollon Marie-Rose Barret was a "remarkable oboe player, born in the south of France in 1804, pupil of Vogt at the Conservatoire, solo player at the Odéon and Opéra Comique, and at last permanently at...

Barret Ranking

In the United States, the name Barret is the 16,644^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3 However, in France, the name Barret is ranked the 588^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,939 people with that name. 4

Barret migration to the United States +

In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec, in 1663 there were only 500, 2,000 migrants arrived 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 migrants, both noble and commoner from France. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. 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 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported to Louisiana. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the French race flourished, founding in Lower Canada, one of the two great solitudes which became Canada. Many distinguished contributions have been made by members of this family name Barret. It has been prominent in the arts, religion, politics and culture in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Barret were

Barret Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Samuel Barret, who landed in Maryland in 1631 5
Thomas Barret, aged 16, who arrived in New England in 1635 aboard the ship "Increase" 5
William Barret, who arrived in Virginia in 1648 5
Sarah Barret, who arrived in Maryland in 1668 5
Thomas Barret, who arrived in Maryland in 1673 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Barret Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Andris Barret, who arrived in New York in 1710
Jane Barret, who arrived in Virginia in 1725 5
Baldues Barret, aged 40, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1738 5
Charles Barret, who arrived in Virginia in 1742 5
Christopher Barret, who landed in Boston, Massachusetts in 1763 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Barret Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Robert Barret, who arrived in Mobile County, Ala in 1845 5
B Barret, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 5
Owen Barret, who landed in New York, NY in 1854 5

Barret Settlers in United States in the 20th Century

Mr. Richard Barret, (b. 1873), aged 32, Cornish miner, from Scorrier, Cornwall travelling aboard the ship "Philadelphia" arriving at Ellis Island, New York on 21st May 1905 en route to Hancock, Michigan, USA 6

Barret migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Barret Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

John Barret, who arrived in Nova Scotia in 1749
Alexander Barret was a fisherman in Trinity, Newfoundland in 1760 7

Barret Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

J Barret, who landed in Victoria, British Columbia in 1862

Barret migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Barret Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Edward Barret, aged 21, a mason, who arrived in South Australia in 1854 aboard the ship "Dirigo" 8

Barret 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. 9

Barret Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Annis Barret, aged 20, who arrived in Barbados in 1635 5
Mr. John Barret, (b. 1619), aged 16, British settler travelling from London, England aboard the ship "Anne and Elizabeth" arriving in Barbados in 1635 10

Contemporary Notables of the name Barret (post 1700) +

William Barret Travis (1809-1836), American politician, Delegate to Texas Consultation of 1835 from District of Austin, 1835 11
Barret Spencer Oliver (b. 1973), American photographer and former child actor
Barret Jackman (b. 1981), Canadian NHL ice hockey defenseman
Barret Davie, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Illinois, 2008 12

The Barret Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Pour bien desirer
Motto Translation: For wishing well.

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
Dionne, N.-E., Les Canadiens-Francais Origine Des Familles. Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 1969. 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)
Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retreived 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_ellis_island_1892_on.pdf
Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
South Australian Register Thursday 23rd November 1854. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) Dirigo 1854. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/dirigo1854.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's. Retrieved 23rd September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 1) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 4) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html