Show ContentsGravv History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Gravv has a long French heritage that first began in southern region of Languedoc. The name is derived from when the family lived in Languedoc but the name could have also been derived from the Old French word "grave," which meant "gravel."

Early Origins of the Gravv family

The surname Gravv was first found in Languedoc, where the family has held a family seat since very early times.

Early History of the Gravv family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Gravv research. Another 215 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1096, 1150, 1248, 1651, 1669, 1708 and 1788 are included under the topic Early Gravv History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Gravv Spelling Variations

Throughout the course of history most surnames have undergone changes for many reasons. During the early development of the French language, a son and father may not have chosen to spell their name the same way. Many are simple spelling changes by a person who gave his name, phonetically, to a scribe, priest, or recorder. Many names held prefixes or suffixes which became optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, we have many spelling variations of this name, Gravv some of which are Grave, Grève, de Grèves, Grauve, Greive, Le Grave, de Grave, Graves and many more.

Early Notables of the Gravv family

Notable amongst the family name at this time was Hugues, a Lord of Villegly and of Félines; and Jacques Gravier (1651-1708), a French Jesuit missionary in the New World from Moulins, Allier...
Another 32 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Gravv Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Gravv family

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 Gravv. 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 Gravv were George Grave settled with his wife Elnor and son, John, aged 10; in Virginia in 1620; Hermon Up De Grave settled in Germantown, Pa. in 1693; Joan Grave, aged 30.



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