Show ContentsTrembleaux History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The French name Trembleaux first arose during the Medieval period in Normandy. It is derived from when the family having lived at Tremblay, in Normandy.

Early Origins of the Trembleaux family

The surname Trembleaux was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where the family held a family seat since early times.

Active in the conquest, they were awarded lands in England where their name became Trembles. Another branch moved to neighboring Flanders where they established themselves and gave their name to the land of Trembleur in the 1400's.

Interestingly, there are records of the family in Scotland in ancient times. "Walter de Trembley occupied the lands of Delany in the Mearns, 1263, and Robert de Tremblay witnessed a charter of lands in Fife by Sir Alexander de Moray, 1281. Robert de Tremblee who rendered homage in 1296 is probably Robert de Tremblay or Trembleye of Elgin en Moreve whose homage is recorded in the same year. " 1

By the 15th century the family again branched to Burgundy and settled in Geneva by 1620. Another branch was formed in Picardy, Bourgogne. One of the family's descendants was Abraham Trembley, who was a Swiss Naturalist during the 1700's and wrote "Mémoires pour sévir à l'histoire de polypes d'eau douce à bras en forme de cornes", in 1774.

Pierre Tremblay, son of Philibert and Jehanne (neé Coignet), was a farmer that arrived in Canada in 1647. Pierre married Ozanne-Jeanne Achon on 2nd October 1657. 2

Early History of the Trembleaux family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Trembleaux research. Another 21 words (2 lines of text) covering the years 1066, 1577 and 1638 are included under the topic Early Trembleaux History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Trembleaux Spelling Variations

There were a great number of spelling variations in French surnames. One reason for this was the wide variety of cultural influences present in France during the early development of the French language. The many spelling variations of the name include Tremblay, Tremblai, Tremblaie, Tremblé, Tremblés, Tremblée, Tremblait, Tremblett, Tremblais, Tremblaies, Tremley and many more.

Early Notables of the Trembleaux family

Another 28 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Trembleaux Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Trembleaux 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 Trembleaux. 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 Trembleaux were Corney Trembley settled in America in 1764; Jacques Tremblay settled in Québec in 1756; Ulrique Tremblay settled in Québec in 1815; Louis Tremblay settled in Qué.



  1. Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
  2. Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print


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