Show ContentsBelliveault History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname Belliveault 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 Belliveault 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 Belliveault family

The surname Belliveault 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 Belliveault family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Belliveault research. Another 90 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1295, 1555, 1666, 1669, and 1813 are included under the topic Early Belliveault History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Belliveault 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 Belliveault family (pre 1700)

Another 35 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Belliveault Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Belliveault family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Charles Belliveau, who arrived in South Carolina in 1755 with his wife and eight children; Jean Belliveau, who settled in South Carolina in 1755; Joseph Belliveau, who settled in Connecticut in 1763 with his wife and child.



  1. Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print


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