Marquise History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

Etymology of Marquise

What does the name Marquise mean?

The name Marquise comes from the ancient culture of France. It was a Norman name for a nobleman who ranked just below the level of an Earl and is derived from the Old French word "Marquis," which signified this lofty position.

Early Origins of the Marquise family

The surname Marquise was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), in Pas-de-Calais in the arrondissement of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they held a family seat since the very early times. They branched south in the 13th century when they held a family seat at Motte. By the 14th century they had moved to the Franche-Comté at Tallenay and were raised to the Seigniory. This family later branched to Brittany, Forez, Neufchatel and Morges. In Brittany and île-de-Saint-Dominique the spelling was Marques. Many of the settlers of that name who went to New France came from Normandy and Brittany (French: Bretagne).

Early History of the Marquise family

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

Marquise 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, Marquise some of which are Marquis, Marques, Marquise, Marquy, Marqui, Marcquis, Marquess, Marquese and many more.

Early Notables of the Marquise family

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

Migration of the Marquise family

By 1643 there were only about 300 people in Quebec. Since immigration was slow, 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. 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. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The distinguished family name Marquise 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 Marquise were Mrs. Marquis settled in New Orleans in 1822; Peter Marquis settled in Philadelphia in 1860; J. Marquese settled in New Orleans in 1822; P. Marquess settled in New Orleans in 1823..

Contemporary Notables of the name Marquise (post 1700) +

Harmonie Marquise (b. 1995), American published model, dancer, choreographer, video vixen, social personality, designer, and adult film model
Lena Marquise (b. 1985), Russian interdisciplinary artist based in New York who started her career in the early 2000s
De'Leon Marquise Eskridge (b. 1989), American NFL football running back