Gendre History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Belgium
France

Etymology of Gendre

What does the name Gendre mean?

From the historical and enchanting region of France emerged a multitude of noble families, including the distinguished Gendre family. Originally, the French people were known only by a single name. The process by which hereditary surnames were adopted in France is extremely interesting. Surnames evolved during the Middle Ages when people began to assume an extra name to avoid confusion and to further identify themselves. Often they adopted names that were derived from nicknames. Gendre is a nickname type of surname for a person who has inherited his family estates from his father-in-law, deriving its origin from the Old French word "gendre," which meant "son-in-law."

Early Origins of the Gendre family

The surname Gendre was first found in Maine where they held a family seat at De Tendron, a seigneurie in the department of Cher in the arrondissement of Sainte-Amand-Mont-Rond. By the 14th century this prestigious family had moved north to Brittany (French: Bretagne). They leant their name to the seigneurie of Gendronnière and La Croix in that same region where they held considerable estates. They also acquired business interests in Holland.

Nicolas Gendron, born in 1634, son of Pierre and Marie (née Renault), travelled from France to Canada in the 17th century. After settling in Quebec he married Marie-Marthe Hubert, born in 1642, daughter of Toussaint and Catherine (née Champagne), on 19th February 1656. Together they had eight children, six sons and two daughters, and they remained in Quebec together until Nicolas passed away at Sainte-Famille on 16th January 1671. 1

Early History of the Gendre family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gendre research. More information is included under the topic Early Gendre History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gendre Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Gendron, Gendrot, Gendreau, Le Gendron, Legendron, Le Gendreau and many more.

Early Notables of the Gendre family

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

Gendre Ranking

France, the name Gendre is the 1,756^th most popular surname with an estimated 3,467 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Gendre family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Nicolas Gendron who arrived in Quebec from Aunis, a port of embarkation on the west coast of France; and later Pierre Gendron sailed from the same port and settled in Quebec in 1663.

Contemporary Notables of the name Gendre (post 1700) +

Charles La Gendre (1829-1899), American politician, U.S. Consul in Amoy, 1866 3
Jérôme Gendre (1977-2020), French rugby union player who played at the fly-half position
Louis Gendre (b. 1921), birth name of Louis Jourdan, French film actor

Sources +

Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, February 1) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html