Show ContentsPicote History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Picote

What does the name Picote mean?

The Picote family name derives from the Old French personal name Picot, or Pigot. 1

Alternatively, the name could have been derived from the French word "piquet" which was a pointed stake or peg used militarily by the French Army c. 1695. Later the term pikemen was derived by the British Army in the mid 1700s.

Early Origins of the Picote family

The surname Picote was first found in Brittany where they held a family seat at Beauchesne, and as the line was the main stem of this aristocratic family which would emerge as Viscounts d'Vaulogé, it was there that branches were formed in Brittany, Maine and Austria. They were originally from Picot de Saio in Normandy and were recorded there in 1086. 2

Early History of the Picote family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Picote research. Another 79 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1651, 1708, 1720, 1734, 1781, 1791, 1813 and 1862 are included under the topic Early Picote History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Picote 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, Picote some of which are Picot, Picott, Picotte, Pickot, Picout, Picoud, Picque, Picquet, Picquot and many more.

Early Notables of the Picote family

Eustache Picot (died 1651), a French musician and composer, sous-maître of the chapelle royale of Louis XIII. François Picquet (1708-1781) was a French Sulpician priest who emigrated to Montreal, Canada, in 1734. He was born in Bourg-en-Bresse, France and...
Another 39 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Picote Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


Picote migration to Canada +

In the 1700s, land incentives were finally given out by France to 2,000 migrants. Early marriage was encouraged in New France, and 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, leaving French names scattered across the continent. The search for the Northwest passage continued. Migration from France to New France or Quebec, as it was now more popularly called, continued until 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, Acadia 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. 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 Picote were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Picote were

Picote Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century
  • Pierre Picote, who landed in Montreal in 1659


  1. Dionne, N.-E., Les Canadiens-Francais Origine Des Familles. Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 1969. Print
  2. The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)


Houseofnames.com on Facebook