Norman Canadian

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Norman Canadians are Canadians who can be either French speaking or English speaking. Their ancestors originate from Normandy and they came from, what is called now Upper Normandy, Lower Normandy and the Channel Islands.

Normans (Nortmanni in Latin) was originally the name given by the Northern French inhabitants to Norwegian and Danish Vikings that plundered the French coastal regions and to those who finally settled in the Northwestern part of Neustria around 911 AD. Their descendants, that completely mixed up with the local population, were called Norman as well and the part of France, where they lived, Normandie.^[1] It could be said that some of their ancestors were the first Europeans to discover North America in 1000 AD (see Leif Ericson).

Other Normans came to Canada from countries that they had immigrated to after the Edict de Nantes had been revoked in 1685. Thousands of Norman people immigrated to Great Britain, the Netherlands, South Africa and the British colonies and some to Switzerland and Germany,^[1] when the majority converted to Catholicism.

The first settlers to Canada came from Normandy. Example: On July 23, 1632, 300 colonists heading to Canada departed from Dieppe. They brought with them their own culture and Norman language. Subsequently, those that followed would also speak their language.

Famous Norman Canadians and notable Norman settlers[]

Pierre de Chauvin de Tonnetuit, naval captain, lieutenant of New France and governor.

One famous Norman that came to Canada was Charles le Moyne de Longueuil et de Châteauguay, from Longueil near Dieppe and his wife Catherine Primot-Thierry from Rouen, the capital city of Normandy. They had fourteen children. Two of them became famous : Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, who founded Louisiana and the cities of Mobile and Biloxi, and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, who founded New Orleans.^[2]

Another famous Norman was Robert Cavelier, who claimed Louisiana for the King of France, and who established many forts in the Illinois country. He was born at Rouen.^[3]

Pierre Boucher came to Canada with his father in 1635 from the Norman Perche, and later became Governor of Trois-Rivières. He was the first Canadian settler to be ennobled by King Louis XIV. He died at his seigniory in Boucherville, which was named in his honour.^[4]

Jean Brebeuf was born in Condé-sur-Vire, Normandy. He came to Canada in 1625 as a missionary. He went to live with the Hurons and learned their customs and language. He was the first to write a grammar and dictionary in the Huron language. He is Canada's "first serious ethnographer." He also became a valuable source of Canadian history.^[5]

Guillaume Couture was born 1618 in Rouen.

Pierre Dugrenier dit Perron was born 1675 in Rouen, paroisse Saint-Maclou

Jacques Le Ber, merchant and lord at Montreal, from Senneville, near Pîtres, today in Upper-Normandy.

Julien Dubuque was a Norman Canadian from the area of Champlain, Quebec, who arrived near what now is known as Dubuque, Iowa, which was named after him. He was one of the first white men to settle in the area in 1788. His Great Grandfather was Jean Dubuc from Rouen, Normandy.

Charles Hus, dit Millet was a political figure in Lower Canada. His Great Grandfather was Paul Hus, who was born in Montigny, Rouen in 1643.

Wilfrid-Étienne Brunet founded the first Brunet pharmacy in 1855 in Quebec City, the largest one at the time. The Brunet pharmacies are now owned by Metro, and have 124 pharmacies in the province of Québec.^[6]

Brothers Charles Hamel and Jean Hamel, ancestors of almost all Hamels in North America, born Abt 1624 and 1630, respectively, in Avremesnil, near Dieppe

Charles Robin formed a firm which developed fishing grounds off Cape Breton Island and the Gaspé region. He was born in Saint Brélade, Jersey in 1743.

Norman Canadian Last Names[]

• Anctil (In France, Anctil is a typical Norman surname, former first name. Anctil is a variant spelling of Anquetil. Anctil is found in the pays de Caux region of Upper Normandy, and also Cotentin^[7] together with the widespread common spelling Anquetil^[8] and the other variant spellings Amptil, Anquety and Anquetille all found in Normandy. Its etymology is Old Norse Ásketill)
• Asselin (Most Asselin in France originate from the Orléans region, Loire valley, but the surname is also widespread in Normandy. The variant female form of the surname, Asseline, is typical Norman)
• Bacon (Most Bacon in France are from Lower Normandy, but there is also a patronymic Bacon in Brittany and in Artois)
• Bélanger (Most Bélanger in France originate from Anjou and some from Picardy), variant form of Béranger
• Bellemare (Name of over 20 hamlets in Normandy. It is a compound of French belle "nice, pretty" and mare, from Old Norse marr "sea" borrowed from Norman by French around 1600)
• Bérubé (Bérubé is a typical Norman name in France, that originates precisely from the pays de Caux)
• Bonhomme (Most Bonhomme in France originate from the Massif Central region, south of France, but the patronymic has been also widespread everywhere since a long time)
• Boucher (Most Boucher in France originate from Picardy, some are from Brittany and the Western Loire valley, but the patronymic has been widespread everywhere since a long time)
• Bouffard
• Bourdon (Most Bourdon in France are from Artois and Picardy, but the name has been also present in Upper Normandy and in Brittany since a long time)
• Brassard (Most Brassard in France originate from French Flanders, but the name is also widespread in Lower Normandy, in the Western Loire Valley and in Auvergne)
• Brière (Most Brière in France are from Maine and from Normandy, variant form of Bruyère)
• Brunelle (Most Brunelle in France originate from Artois, French Flanders and Picardy, but the name has been present in other regions since a long time. It is a variant spelling of Brunel : north and south, Bruneau : west and Bruneel : Flanders. The typical Norman form is Bunel : from Brunel > Burnel > Busnel > Bunel)
• Brunet (the patronymic has been widespread everywhere in France since a long time)
• Carpentier (In France Carpentier is a surname from Picardy and Upper Normandy. The typical Norman form is Lecarpentier, the French form is Charpentier)
• Chevalier (In France, Chevalier is a traditional surname in the langue d'oïl and Franco-Provençal speaking regions. The typical Norman variant form is Lechevalier)
• Corbet
• Côté
• Couture
• Croteau (In France Croteau is a surname from the Perche county, not exactly Normandy)
• Delisle (In France Delisle is a surname from the Northwest, including Normandy)
• Deschamps
• Dubuque (ill-spelling of the surname Dubuc. There are in fact two different surnames spelled the same way Dubuc. The Dubucs from the pays de Caux in Upper Normandy, that means "from the Buc", name of "a farm" or "a hamlet". The southwestern rarer surname - Gasconic - Dubuc does not share the same etymology)
• Duclos (In France Duclos is more common in Normandy than everywhere, but it is also widespread in Brittany and in the Southwest)
• Fontaine, meaning that the original family with the name lived near the source of a spring.
• Fortin (In France, Fortin is a widespread surname from the Northwestern part to the Southwestern part of France)
• Fortier, first of all Normandy, but also widespread elsewhere in Northern France
• Gagnon, first of all from Beauce, but the Canadian Gagnon descend of a family from Perche
• Gallant (In some cases Galland, and frequently in Hache-Gallant in Canada)
• Godbout (In France Godbout is a rare variant spelling of , a surname from pays de Caux in Upper Normandy. Godeboust that can be found in some ancient records is an ill-spelling of the surname)
• Gosselin, first of all Normandy, but Picardy, Artois too
• Grenier
• Groult
• Guèvremont
• Guyon (later changed by many to Dion)
• Hamel (In France, Hamel is a Norman surname)
• Hébert (In France, Hébert is a Norman surname, variant form of Herbert)
• Hu
• Hue, typical Norman surname.
• Huë
• Hus
• Janson
• Labrecque (rare Norman surname, variant form of Delabrecque in Upper Normandy)
• Lalonde (In France, it is a Norman surname, that has been also widespread in Picardy since a long time. It means the one from a place called la Londe or from "the wood". Londe is a former Norman word - until the 16th century - that meant "wood", from Old Norse lundr "wood". Variant forms : Delalonde, Delalondre)
• Lamarre (Northern French surname, sometimes confused in Normandy with Lamare, shortened form of the typical Norman surname Delamare)
• Lamy (In France, Lamy has been found almost everywhere except in the very South since a long time)
• Langlois (In France Langlois is a Norman surname)
• Larchevêque (In France Larchevêque is a surname from Upper Normandy and from the Cher département in the région Centre)
• Larue
• Lasalle (the name is not Norman but Picard and Béarnais)
• Lebrun
• Leclair
• Lecompte
• Lefèbvre
• Lagacé (Spelling variations of this family name include: Lagace, Lagacé, Lagache, Lagasse, Legacy, Gache, Gaché, Gaches, Gachet, Gachon, Lagacée and many more. Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: 200 individuals who arrived from Normandy onto Canadian shores between 1600 and 1900. Among them, André Lagacé worked in Saint-Pierre-les-Becque in 1861.). The name Lagacé is now typical of French Flanders^[9]
• Lelièvre^[10]
• Lemoyne
• Lessard is first of all a Breton surname
• Levasseur
• Loiselle variant spelling for the more common Norman name Loisel corresponding to Loiseau in French
• Martel variant and regional spelling for Marteau
• Morel
• Normand (originally Le Normand), the principle branch came from Igé, Perche, in Normandy.
• Paquet
• Paradis
• Pelletier
• Petit, the original person with this name was small in size.
• Picard
• Poirier
• Poulin
• Primeau, variant spelling for Primot
• Quevillon (Quevillon is a Norman surname from the place-name Quevillon near Rouen in Upper Normandy. The corresponding French place-name is Chevillon)
• Quenneville (In France, Quenneville is a typical Norman surname from the département Eure in Upper Normandy. It is from the disappeared place-name Quenneville)
• Racine
• Rainville
• Ratelle (Dit Dragon Ratelle) From Rouen area. Note the surname "Said Dragon" , seeming very unusual at that time. It originates from further back in time before 1615. The Dragons, prior firearms were put to use and a new generation of dragon regiments( shooters riding on horseback or dismounted) were created around 1645, were heavily armored troops riding on horseback but fighting dismounted and carrying the banner. Dit Dragon seemed a name acquired through reputation in combat instead of the usual social function described in names, since the name was even passed to the women prior 1615. ^[11]
• Renaud^[12]
• Robillard, is a surname of French origin meaning "son of Robert" or "little Robert". It is not uncommon in Canada and is known in certain areas of the United States, namely New England. Origins in Canada stem from Claude Robillard, who traveled on the Garden of Holland in the 1600s from Rouen, France.
• Roussel, variant northern and southern form of Rousseau, mainly central and west. Russell in English comes from Roussel
• Routhier
• Roy, meaning "king".^[13] It is first of all a Poitou surname and a surname widespread in a large centre of France, from the Poitou to the Franche-Comté,^[14] but rare in Normandy
• Saint-Aubin
• Sénéchal, French and southern Norman form. Norman variant form Sénécal
• Simon, widespread in Normandy, Brittany and Eastern France
• Talbot
• Therrien
• Thiboutot (Thiboutot is originally a place-name of pays de Caux and the surname means "the one from the place called Thiboutot". The place-name Thiboutot near Maniquerville is a combination of Thibout, variant form of Thibaut of Frankish etymology Teudbald, see Theobald, and the Old Norse place-name element topt "site of a house" that gives regularly the final -tot and the simple place-names le Tot in Normandy)
• Trépanier.^[15]

Norman Toponymy in Canada[]

Cities and villages with endings coming from the Norman language:

• Among other things, the name Québec is not from Norman etymology (where there are many place-names ending with -bec, that is from bekkr “stream, brook” in Old Norse). The name "Québec", which comes from the Algonquin word kebec meaning "where the river narrows", originally referred to the area around Quebec City where the Saint Lawrence River narrows to a cliff-lined gap.
• -beuf or -but or -bot, from both / buth “shelter, barrack, village” (cf. English booth, Norse and Danish bod ) : Brébeuf
• -fleur, from Old Norse floth or Old English flēot “coastal river, river mouth” : Honfleur
• -ville, from Old French "farm", Modern French "town", "city" : Beauceville, Belleville, Bernierville, Berthierville, Blainville, Boucherville, Brockville, Bromptonville, Cazaville, Chesterville, Cowansville, Deauville, Daveluyville, Drummondville, Huntsville, Iberville, Johnville, Laurierville, Lennoxville, Martinville, Napierville, Norbertville, Pierreville, Plessisville, Princeville, Robertsonville, Sawyerville, Victoriaville, Waterville, Wolfville,

See also[]

• Norman Toponymy
• Duchy of Normandy

References[]