Chrétien History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

Normandy is the region of ancient France from which the name Chrétien was derived. It comes from when the family lived in Normandy, in the seigneury of Crestienville.

Early Origins of the Chrétien family

The surname Chrétien was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where the family was established in the seigneury of Crestienville, erected in 1694 for Le Neuf.

Early History of the Chrétien family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Chrétien research. Another 159 words (11 lines of text) covering the years 1081, 1135, 1183, 1317, 1330, 1382, 1414, 1730, 1754, 1756, 1811, 1835, 1840 and 1909 are included under the topic Early Chrétien History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Chrétien Spelling Variations

Most surnames have experienced slight spelling changes. A son may not chose to spell his name the same way that his father did. Many were errors, many deliberate. During the early development of the French language, a person usually gave his version, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. Prefixes or suffixes varied. They were optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, there a many spelling variations of the name Chrétien, including Cretien, Chrétien, Chretien, Crestien and others.

Early Notables of the Chrétien family

Notable amongst the family in this period was

Nicolas Chrétien, lord of Croix, a playwright who was born during the second half of the 16th century
Auguste-Clément Chrétien, born in 1835 in Choisy-le-Roi, an artist

Chrétien World Ranking

In the United States, the name Chrétien is the 12,082^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1 However, in Quebec, Canada, the name Chrétien is ranked the 516^th most popular surname. 2 And in France, the name Chrétien is the 337^th popular surname with an estimated 11,914 people with that name. 3

Chrétien migration to the United States +

France finally gave land incentives for 2,000 migrants during the 1700s. Early marriage was encouraged in New France, and 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, leaving French names scattered across the continent. The search for the Northwest passage continued. Migration from France to New France or Quebec, as it was now more popularly called, continued until 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 the treaty of Utrecht, the Acadians were ceded by France to Britain in 1713. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported. They found refuge in Louisiana. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the French race flourished, founding in Lower Canada, one of the two great solitudes which became Canada. Many of this distinguished family name Chrétien were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Chrétien were

Chrétien Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Vincent Chrétien, who married Anne Leclerc in America in 1668

Chrétien Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Jean Francois Chretien, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1736 4

Chrétien migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Chrétien Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century

Michel Chrétien, who married Marie Meunier in 1665 in Quebec City
Michel Chretien, son of Jacques and Catherine, who married Marie Meunier, daughter of Claude and Catherine, in Quebec on 13th October 1665 5
Michel Chretien, son of Michel and Marie, who married Marguerite Coeur, daughter of Pierre and Élisabeth, in Charlesbourg, Quebec on 12th June 1692 5
Michel Chrétien, who married Marguerite Coeur in Charlesbourg, Quebec in 1692
Jean-Baptiste Chretien, son of Michel and Marie, who married Marguerite Roy, daughter of Etienne and Marguerite, in Charlesbourg, Quebec on 22nd November 1694 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Chrétien Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Jean Chrétien, who married Madeleine Louineau in Quebec City in 1701
Thomas Chrétien, who married Reine Canac in 1710 in Ste-Famille
Jacques Chrétien, who married Marie-Joseph Baudon in St-François in 1713
Jean Chretien, son of Vincent and Anne, who married Marie Lefebvre, daughter of Jean and Reine, in Saint-Thomas, Quebec on 20th April 1716 5
Jean-Baptiste Chretien, son of Michel and Marguerite, who married Jeanne-Élisabeth Bédard, daughter of François and Madeleine, in Charlesbourg, Quebec on 22nd November 1723 5
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Chrétien (post 1700) +

Jean Chrétien (b. 1934), born Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien, Canadian politician, 20th Prime Minister of Canada (1993-2003), former leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (1990–2003)
Pierre Chrétien (1846-1934), French entomologist
Jean-Loup Jacques Marie Chretien (b. 1938), French former CNES spationaut who flew two Franco-Soviet space missions and a NASA Space Shuttle mission
Guillaume Xavier Chrétien, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 6
Henri Chrétien (1879-1956), French astronomer and inventor
Aline Chrétien (1936-2020), born Aline Chaîné, Canadian wife of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
Jean-Guy Chrétien (b. 1946), Canadian politician, Member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 2000
Raymond Chrétien OC (b. 1942), Canadian lawyer and diplomat, Ambassador of Canada to the United States (1994-2000), son of Jean Chrétian
Michel Chrétien OC OQ (b. 1936), Canadian medical researcher specializing in neuroendocrinology research, son of Jean Chrétian

Citations +

"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
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)
Internoscia, Arthur E., and Claire Chevrier. Dictionnaire National des Canadiens Français 1608-1760. Vol. 1, Institut Drouin, 1958.
Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 12) Guillaume Chrétien. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html