La Valle History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France
Italy

The proud French name La Valle was formed in Brittany (French: Bretagne) when the family resided in a valley. The name La Valle is derived from the French word "vallée," which means "valley."

Early Origins of the La Valle family

The surname La Valle was first found in Brittany, where they held a family seat in the honor of the seigneurie of la Burie.

By the 14th century they had also acquired estates in Brittany at des Fossés, St-Jouan, and du Val. They also held Montrayer, on the Island of Martinique. The Pimodan branch of the family were elevated to the nobility as the Marquis de Pimodan. They also acquired possessions near the border of Flanders, Normandy, and in the Franche-Comté to the south. By 1512 they held a seigneurie at Chenillon in Lorraine. Louise LaVallière was a favourite of Louis XIV, with whom she had four legitimate children.

Pierre Lavallee, born in 1645, son of Pierre and Madeleine, travelled from France to Canada in the 17th century. After arriving in Quebec he married Marie-Thérèse Leblanc, daughter of Leonard and Marie, on 12th January 1665. 1

Early History of the La Valle family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our La Valle research. The years 1385, 1404, 1414, 1620, 1644, 1661, 1664, 1665, 1667, 1673, 1682 and 1710 are included under the topic Early La Valle History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

La Valle Spelling Variations

The many different spellings of French surnames can be partially explained by the use of local dialects and by the influence of other languages during the early development of the French language. As a result of these linguistic and cultural influences, the name La Valle is distinguished by a number of regional variations. The many spelling variations of the name include Lavalle, Lavallée, Lavallee, La Vallee, Levalle, Leval, Lavallière, Lavallier, Levallier, Lavallois, Levallois, Lavallet, Levallet, Lavalet, Levalet, Lavaley, Levaley, Lavalley, Levalley, Lavally, Levally, Lavallière, de Vallée, de Vallee and many more.

Early Notables of the La Valle family

Notable amongst this name at this time was Guy XIII de Laval, (1385-1414), seigneur of Laval and of Kergorlay, inherited the Laval title through his marriage on 22 January 1404 to Anne de Laval, As daughter and sole heir to Guy XII de Laval, Anne was "dame de Laval", and one of the conditions of the marriage was that any children born to it would...
Another 65 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early La Valle Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

La Valle Ranking

In the United States, the name La Valle is the 13,020^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

La Valle migration to the United States +

Migration from France to New France or Quebec as it was now more popularly called, continued from France until the colony fell to the English 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 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. In 1793, the remaining French in these provinces came under British rule. 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 La Valle were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name La Valle were

La Valle Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Thomas Lavalle, who arrived in Philadelphia in 1876
John Lavalle, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1876 3
Patrick Lavalle, who landed in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1876 3

La Valle migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

La Valle Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Brian Lavalle of Castle Bar was married at St. John's, Newfoundland in 1804 4

Contemporary Notables of the name La Valle (post 1700) +

Gerald J. LaValle (1932-2018), American politician, Member of the Pennsylvania Senate (1990-2008)
Kenneth P. LaValle (b. 1939), American Republican politician, Member of New York State Senate 1st District, 1977-2020 5
Nye Lavalle, American sports marketing executive, futurist, and social scientist
Victor LaValle (b. 1972), American short story author
Paul Lavalle (1908-1997), born Joseph Usifer, an American conductor, composer, arranger and performer on clarinet and saxophone
John Jay LaValle (b. 1967), American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from New York, 2004 5
Rocco LaValle, American Democratic Party politician, Candidate for Iowa State Senate 16th District, 1970 5
Peter J. LaValle, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Texas, 1964; Candidate for Mayor of Texas City, Texas, 1972 5
María Lavalle Urbina (b. 1908), Mexican lawyer and politician, the first female president of the Mexican Senate
José María Lavalle Covarrubias (1902-1984), Peruvian football forward who played for Peru in the 1930 FIFA World Cup
... (Another 1 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/
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)
Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 7) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html