Show ContentsMooren History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Mooren was spawned from the landscape of northern France known as Normandy during the Middle Ages. It comes from the popular Old French given name Maurice.

Early Origins of the Mooren family

The surname Mooren was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where the family has held a family seat from ancient times.

The most unusual descendant of this family was Simon Morin, a visionary, who proclaimed himself as the Son of God and as a result was burned alive in 1663. Several essays were written on him. Two other well known members were Etienne (1625-1700), who was an Orientalist and a Calvinist minister, and Abbot Louis Morin (1636-1715), who was a respected physician and botanist, and a member of the Academy of the Sciences.

Pierre Morin was born in Normandy in 1639. He came to New France and married Marie Martin at Port-Royal, Acadia in 1661. They eventually settled in Beaubassin, Quebec, where Pierre died in 1690. Pierre and Marie had at least twelve children together that carried on the family name of Morin. 1

Early History of the Mooren family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Mooren research. Another 87 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1484, 1499, 1583, 1591, 1630, 1642, 1656, 1659, 1677, 1702 and 1745 are included under the topic Early Mooren History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Mooren Spelling Variations

French surnames were subject to numerous alterations in spelling because of the various cultural groups that inhabited specific regions. Eventually, each region possessed its own local dialect of the French language. The early development of the French language, however, was also influenced by other languages. For example, Old French was infused with Germanic words and sounds when barbarian tribes invaded and settled in France after the fall of the Roman Empire. Middle French also borrowed heavily from the Italian language during the Renaissance. As a result of these linguistic and cultural influences, the name Mooren is distinguished by a number of regional variations. The many spelling variations of the name include Morin, Morins, Morrin, Morrins, Morain, Morains, Morrain, Morrains, Maurin, Maurrin, Maurain, Maurrain, Moren, Morren, Morein, Morrein, de Morin and many more.

Early Notables of the Mooren family

Another 43 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Mooren Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Mooren 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 Mooren 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 Mooren were Andrew Morin settled in Philadelphia in 1847; Daniell Morin settled in Pennsylvania in 1685; James Morin, aged 22; settled in New York City in 1822; John Morin settled in Philadelphia in 1851.



  1. Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print


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