Levans History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• France

Etymology of Levans

The French surname name Levans is derived from the Old French word "vanier," which referred to someone employed to blow the chaff from wheat, a practice known as winnowing.

Early Origins of the Levans family

Early History of the Levans family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Levans research. Another 70 words (5 lines of text) covering the year 1789 is included under the topic Early Levans History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Levans 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, Levans some of which are Vanier, Vannier, Vanniere, Vanner, Vaner, Vaniere, Le Vanier, Levanier, Le Vannier, Levannier, Le Vanner and many more.

Early Notables of the Levans family

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

Migration of the Levans 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 Levans. 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 Levans were Catherine Vanier, who came to Quebec in 1656; Guillaume Vanier, who arrived in Quebec in 1672; Germain Vanier, who arrived in Quebec from Ile-de-France in 1669.