Collette History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

Early Origins of the Collette family

The surname Collette was first found in Champagne, where the family was anciently established.

Early History of the Collette family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Collette research. Another 85 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1598, 1628, 1640, 1659, 1680, 1696, 1709, 1759, 1789 and 1809 are included under the topic Early Collette History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Collette Spelling Variations

Most surnames have experienced slight spelling changes. A son may not chose to spell his name the same way that his father did. Many were errors, many deliberate. During the early development of the French language, a person usually gave his version, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. Prefixes or suffixes varied. They were optional as they passed through the centuries, or were adopted by different branches to signify either a political or religious adherence. Hence, there a many spelling variations of the name Collette, including Collé, Collet, Collette, Colletet and others.

Early Notables of the Collette family

Another 49 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Collette Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Collette Ranking

In the United States, the name Collette is the 4,857^th most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Collette is ranked the 2,889^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,000 - 2,500 people with that name. 2

Collette migration to the United States +

French settlers came early to North American, following in the wake of the explorers, and creating New France. Quebec City, founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain is said to have been the first American site founded as a permanent settlement, rather than as just a commercial outpost. But emigration was slow, in 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 French people in Quebec, and by 1663, when the region was officially made The Royal Colony of New France, by Louis XIV, there still only around 500 settlers. Over 2,000 would arrive 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 immigrants, both noble and commoner from France. By 1675, there were around 7000 French in the colony, and by that 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. Despite the loss of the Colony to England, the French people flourished in Lower Canada. Among settlers to North America of the Collette surname were

Collette Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Lambert Nicholas Collette, who landed in New York in 1835 3

Collette migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Collette Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Emile Collette, aged 29, a farm labourer, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Dorette" in 1874 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Collette (post 1700) +

Buddy Collette (b. 1921), American jazz musician
Brigadier-General Maurice Collette (1885-1945), French Commanding Officer during World War II 5
Antonia "Toni" Collette (b. 1972), award-winning Australian actress and musician who won a Golden Globe award in 2010
Ned Collette (b. 1979), Australian singer-songwriter
Mrs. Celine Collette Craig M.B.E., Irish Chairman, was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire on 29th December 2018 for services to the community in Londonderry, Northern Ireland 6
Collette Marie Sunderman (b. 1959), née Bennett, American three-time Daytime Emmy Award nominated film director from Sun Valley, California, known for The Powerpuff Girls (1998), Samurai Jack (2001), What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002), Duck Dodgers (2003) and more
Collette McCallum (b. 1986), Australia women's football player
Collette LeBlanc, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Arkansas, 2008 7

Sources +

"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)
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 5th November 2010). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2011, October 3) Maurice Collette. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Collette/Maurice-Albert/France.html
"Birthday and New Year Honours Lists (1940 to 2019)." Issue 62507, 28 December 2018 | London Gazette, The Gazette, Dec. 2018, www.thegazette.co.uk/honours-lists
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html