Contents [hide]

Blanc History Etymology Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Citations

Blanc History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France
Germany
Italy
England

Etymology of Blanc

What does the name Blanc mean?

The surname Blanc is derived from the French words "le" and "blanc", which translates to "the white." It was no doubt originally given to a man with white or blond hair and the feminine form, blanche, was usually given to a woman that possessed great beauty. 1

Early Origins of the Blanc family

The surname Blanc was first found in Normandy (French: Normandie), the former Duchy of Normandy, where this ancient family were part of the Royal House of Blois and held a family seat with lands, titles, estates and manors. Members of this family were the hereditary Barons of Bailleul of Norman Conquest fame, and who assisted Duke William of Normandy, head of the House of Blois, in his conquest of England in 1066.

Members of this distinguished and Royal family branched to many locations throughout Europe and amongst the locations were: Silesia, Holland, Italy and Britain. The earliest record of the name Blanch occurred in Normandy between 1180-95 with William Blanc and Robert and John Blanche. 2

Another early finding of the name was Blanche of Navarre (1226-1283), also known as Blanche of Champagne, was the daughter of Theobald the Troubador, King of Navarre and Count of Champagne, and his second wife Agnes of Beaujeu. Blanche of Navarre (French: Blanche d'Évreux) (1330-1398) was Queen consort of France as the wife of King Philip VI of France. Blanche I (1387-1441) was Queen of Navarre from 1425 to 1441 and her daughter Blanche II of Navarre (1424-1464), was titular Queen of Navarre (1461-1464) and by marriage Princess of Asturias.

Another source also claims that the name could come from the Vendée, a department in western France and the town of Noirmoutiers, an island off of the west coast of France. 1

The name Blanche was first recorded in the western part of France with two former noble families. In Britain, Colin Blanche was a member of the house of the Duchess in 1400, Jean, was an armed archer for the Duc in 1420, and François, was a man involved in an armed watch of the city of Dinan in 1489. 3

The noble family with the name Blanche in Normandy and in Maine was maintained in the 1666 election around the time that Philippe was the Archbishop of Tours. The names including the article, such as Le Blanc, were most commonly seen in Northern France. 4

Jean Leblanc, born in 1620, was the son of Clement Leblanc and Anne Fevre. He was one of the first ancestors with the name Leblanc found in Canada. Jean married Euphrasie-Madeleine Nicolet on 21st November 1643 and together they had seven children. 5

Early History of the Blanc family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Blanc research. Another 128 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1572, 1602, 1700, 1718, 1778 and 1788 are included under the topic Early Blanc History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Blanc Spelling Variations

Changes of spelling have occurred in most surnames. The earliest explanation is that during the early development of the French language, names were not yet fixed in spelling. Usually a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. This depended on accent, and local accents frequently changed the spelling of a name. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there are some spelling variations of the name Blanc, including Leblanc, Lebland, Leblang, Le Blanc, Blanc, Blanche, Blanchet, Blancheteau, Blancheton, Blanchonnet, Blanchot, Blanchaud, Blanquet, Blancot, Bianchi, Blanchecappe, Blanchecotte, Le Blank, Blank, Blanque, Blanke, Blancke and many more.

Early Notables of the Blanc family

Notable amongst the family in this period was

Pierre Le Blanc was Lord of Prebois and of Ferrière...

Blanc Ranking

In the United States, the name Blanc is the 8,325^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 6 However, in France, the name Blanc is ranked the 35^th most popular surname with an estimated 48,108 people with that name. 7

Blanc migration to the United States +

Immigration to New France was slow; therefore, 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 Blanc 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 Blanc were

Blanc Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Mrs. Augustus Blanc, who arrived in Massachusetts in 1755 8
Anne Blanc, who landed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1763 8
Patrick Blanc, aged 34, who arrived in New York in 1774 8
Joseph Blanc, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1785 8

Blanc Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Silvester Blanc, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1813 8
R Blanc, who arrived in New Orleans, La in 1813 8
John Baptist Blanc, who landed in America in 1822 8
John Peter Blanc, who arrived in New York in 1827 8
Eugene Blanc, who landed in New York in 1831 8
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Blanc migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Antoine Blanc, son of David and Jeanne, who married Marguerite Léger, daughter of Pierre and Anne-Marguerite, in Quebec on 9th August 1729 9

Contemporary Notables of the name Blanc (post 1700) +

Mel Blanc (1908-1989), American voice actor, best known as the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and many others
Antoine Blanc (1792-1860), the fifth Bishop and first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans
Joseph E. Le Blanc, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Louisiana, 1900 10
Michel Blanc (1952-2024), French actor, writer and director
Jean-Jacques Blanc, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 11
Claude Marie-Joseph Blanc, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 12
Brigadier-General Gaston Blanc (1881-1943), French Commanding Officer during World War II 13
General Jean-Clment Blanc (1897-1982), French Inspector-General of the Land Forces 14
Lieutenant-General Amde-Ferdinand-Auguste Blanc (1880-1964), French General Officer Commanding Tunisia Corps 15
Louis Blanc (1811-1882), French politician and historian
... (Another 5 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Blanc Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Sans tache
Motto Translation: Without stain.

Citations +

Dionne, N.-E., Origine Des Familles Canadiennes-Français. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1969. Print.
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)
Hozier, Charles D, and Antoine Bachelin-Delforenne. État présent De La Noblesse française (1883-1887): Contenant Le Distionnaire De La Noblesse Contemporaine Et Larmorial général De France, Dapres Les Manuscrits De Ch. D Hozier. Librairie Des Bibliophiles, 1884. Print.
Dauzat, Albert, Morlet, Marie-Thérèse, Dictionaire Étymologique des Noms et Prénoms de France. Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1987. Print.
Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Internoscia, Arthur E., and Claire Chevrier. Dictionnaire National des Canadiens Français 1608-1760. Vol. 1, Institut Drouin, 1958.
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 11) Jean-Jacques Blanc. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, February 11) Claude Blanc. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2011, October 3) Gaston Blanc. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Blanc/Gaston-Samuel/France.html
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2011, October 3) Jean-Clment Blanc. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Blanc/Jean-Cl%C3%A9ment/France.html
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2011, October 3) Amde-Ferdinand-Auguste Blanc. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Blanc/Am%C3%A9d%C3%A9e-Ferdinand-Auguste/France.html