Show ContentsToulousain History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Etymology of Toulousain

What does the name Toulousain mean?

The history of the Toulousain family goes back to the Medieval landscape of southern France, to a region known as Languedoc. It is derived from the family living in the city of Toulouse, one of the major urban centers in the south of France.

Early Origins of the Toulousain family

The surname Toulousain was first found in Languedoc where they held a family seat as members of the aristocracy in that region. The main line of the Toulouse family emerged as the Comtes de Lautrec.

The first of this line was Raymond I, Count of Toulouse (died 865) who was the Count of Limoges, Rouergue, Quercy, Toulouse and Albi. On his death, his brother Fredelo, (Fredelo, Fridolo, or Frigidolo) who died in 852 assumed the title and some regard him as the first Count of Toulouse (844-852.) This line survived until Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse (1197-1249.) Shortly after his death, the county was annexed by France.

"The Counts of Toulouse descended from Fulcoald, Count of Rodez 837, whose son Fridolind became Count of Toulouse 849 (L'Art de Vdrif. les Dates), and was ancestor of that Sovereign house, whose services in the Crusades, and whose ruin in the Albigensian wars, occupy so important a place in history. A branch of this illustrious house settled in England at the Conquest, and Hugh de Toulouse obtained grants from Richard FitzGilbert in Surrey." 1

Early History of the Toulousain family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Toulousain research. Another 89 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1864 and 1901 are included under the topic Early Toulousain History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Toulousain 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, Toulousain some of which are Toulouse, Toulous, Tolouse and others.

Early Notables of the Toulousain family

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

Migration of the Toulousain 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 Toulousain. 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 Toulousain were Rene Toulouse arrived in Quebec from Languedoc in 1758.



  1. 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)


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