Show ContentsLione History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname Lione originates in Gascogne, France, is where Lione was first used as a surname. Lione 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 Lione family

The surname Lione 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 Lione family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lione 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 Lione History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Lione 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, Lione some of which are 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 Lione family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Hugues de Lionne (1611-1671), a French statesman; and his son, Artus de Lionne (1655-1713), abbé and Bishop of Rosalie in partibus infidelium...
Another 29 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Lione Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Lione family

Approximately 110 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. France gave land incentives for 2,000 migrants during the next decade. Early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. Migration to New France (Quebec) continued from France until it fell in 1759. In the year 1675 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. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The distinguished family name Lione has made significant contributions to the culture, arts, sciences and religion of France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Lione were Jean Baptiste Léonard, who lived in New Orleans with his two sons in 1727; Frédéric Léonard, who was a property owner in New Orleans in 1732.


Contemporary Notables of the name Lione (post 1700) +

  • James V. Lione, American Republican politician, Candidate for New York State Senate 3rd District, 1936; Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from New York, 1960; Member of New York Republican State Committee, 1961 [2]


  1. Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
  2. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 4) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


Houseofnames.com on Facebook