Contents [hide]

Léon History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada New Zealand West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Suggested Reading Citations

Léon History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France
Italy
Spain

The surname Léon originates in Gascogne, France, is where Léon was first used as a surname. Léon was derived from the personal name Leonard, which means "lion-bold," and indicating that the original bearer was thought to be as bold as a lion.

Early Origins of the Léon family

The surname Léon was first found in Gascony (French: Gascogne), an area of southwest France bordering Spain, that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution, where the family held a family seat since ancient times.

The members of the family also branched into other regions of France. In Burgundy they settled in De Léonardy, which was part of the bailiwick of Charolles in 1789. In Brittany the members of the branch Léon settled in Bourgerel, in Ourmeaux and in Trévéret, and they also became the counts of Crozon.

Julien Leonard, born in 1665, son of Jacques and Scholastique (née Gilles), was a French doctor that settled in Quebec in the 17th century. He married Barbe LeFrançois, daughter of Charles and Marie-Madeleine (née Triot), at Château-Richer on 13th October 1698. They remained together in Quebec until Barbe passed away on 1st August 1700. 1

Early History of the Léon family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Léon research. Another 102 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1611, 1654, 1655, 1656, 1657, 1658, 1663, 1671, 1713, 1744, 1766 and 1793 are included under the topic Early Léon History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Léon 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 Léon, including Léonard, Léonnard, Léonhard, Lénard, Liénard, Lenard, Lienard, Lionard, Lionhard, Léonart, Léonhart, Lénart, Liénart, Lionart, Lionhart, Lenart, Lienart, Léonardy, Léon, Léone, Léonne, Lion, Lione and many more.

Early Notables of the Léon family

More information is included under the topic Early Léon Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Léon Ranking

In the United States, the name Léon is the 670^th most popular surname with an estimated 44,766 people with that name. 2 However, in France, the name Léon is ranked the 493^rd most popular surname with an estimated 9,083 people with that name. 3

Léon migration to the United States +

France was active as a cultural leader in the early 16th century. One particular area in which they lead was the exploration of the New World. The explorers, like Jacques Cartier in 1534, led the way to North America. Champlain, in 1608, made the first of twenty voyages to France to attract settlers and brought the first migrant in 1617. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec, and the French Acadian presence in the Maritimes had reached 500. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The family name Léon has made many distinguished contributions in France and New France to the world of science, culture, religion, and education. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Léon were

Léon Settlers in United States in the 16th Century

Cristobal Leon, who arrived in Peru in 1537
Hernardo de Leon, his wife Maria Fernandez and their four children, who arrived in Peru in 1570
Francisco De Leon, his wife Ana Lopez and their two children, who arrived in New Spain in 1577
Bernardino Leon, who arrived in Chile in 1577

Léon Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Anthony Leon, aged 26, who arrived in New York in 1649 4

Léon Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Antonio Leon, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1803 4
Juan Leon, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1803
Patrick Leon, who landed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1811 4
Pedro De Leon, who arrived in America in 1812 4
Alonso De Leon, who arrived in America in 1813 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Léon migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Léon Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Mr. James Leon, aged 40 who immigrated to Canada, arriving at the Grosse Isle Quarantine Station in Quebec aboard the ship "James Moran" departing from the port of Liverpool, England but died on Grosse Isle in July 1847 5

Léon migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Léon Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Mr. Leon, Australian settler travelling from Sydney aboard the ship "Earl Durham" arriving in Bay of Islands, North Island, New Zealand in 1841 6

Léon 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. 7

Léon Settlers in West Indies in the 19th Century

Lazaro De Leon, who landed in Dominican Republic in 1834 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Léon (post 1700) +

John Paul Leon (1972-2021), American comic book artist, known for his work on the Milestone Comics series Static, and the Marvel Comics limited series Earth X
Captain Pierre Leon (1838-1915), American officer in the Union Navy and a Medal of Honor recipient
Adrianna Therese León (b. 1987), American singer-songwriter, chef, personal fitness trainer, model and actress
Jose Leon (b. 1976), American professional baseball player from Puerto Rico
Pamela Leon, American politician, Candidate for Presidential Elector for Michigan, 1972 8
John F. Leon (1910-1987), American politician, Member of Illinois State House of Representatives, 1959-67; Delegate to Illinois State Constitutional Convention 14th District, 1969-70 8
Jason Leon, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Oregon, 2004 8
Gersam Leon, American politician, U.S. Consular Agent in Bayonne, 1862-76 8
David Leon, American politician, U.S. Vice Consul in Curaçao, 1874 8
D. H. Leon, American politician, Socialist Workers Candidate for Presidential Elector for Iowa, 1972 8
... (Another 24 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

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/
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)
Charbonneau, André, and Doris Drolet-Dubé. A Register of Deceased Persons at Sea and on Grosse Île in 1847. The Minister of Canadian Heritage, 1997. ISBN: 0-660-198/1-1997E (p. 39)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html