Columbia History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

Etymology of Columbia

What does the name Columbia mean?

During that dark period of history known as the Middle Ages, the name of Columbia was first used in France. While the patronymic and metronymic surnames, which are derived from the name of the father and mother respectively, are the most common form of a hereditary surname in France, occupational surnames also emerged during the late Middle Ages. Many people, such as the Columbia family, adopted the name of their occupation as their surname. However, an occupational name did not become a hereditary surname until the office or type of employment became hereditary. The surname Columbia was an occupational name for a keeper of doves or pigeons having derived from the Old French word "colombe," which means dove.

Early Origins of the Columbia family

The surname Columbia was first found in Guyenne, where this distinguished family held a family seat since the 1100's.

By the early 1500's the family had branched into Quercy and Languedoc where Amanieu de Coulombe witnessed a document in 1506. His son founded the Jacobean convent in Bordeaux in 1530. Due to the family's impressive status in society, it formed many alliances with other noble families, such as in 1510, when the Colomb of Montregard of Puy family intermarried with the LaTour family and their descendants were known as De Colombe de LaTour, Viscounts of Goy. François de Colomb, Baron Latour, was the cousin of Hector, head of the Colombe de Montregard. Another branching of the Montregard family occurred when Jean de Colomb, Doctor of Law and Judge for the seneschal of Puy, and second son of François, became the Lord of Combres. His son, François, became a councillor to the King. Later generations of the family held titles of Baron de la Tour-Daniel, Beauzac, Lords of Mercuret, and Co-Lords of Saint-Haon. François de Colomb, Lieutenant of Viscount LeStrange, the Governor of Puy, was active in the defense of Puy against the Ligue and contributed greatly to the pacification of Velay for which he received special commendation from King Henri IV in 1594. In 1596 he became the King's Judge by proclamation and died in 1647 at the age of 100 years and 3 months. It should be noted that the average man died in his forties or fifties at this time. Jean de Colomb of the Forez branch of the family was registered in 1585. Descendants of all branches of the family served as councillors to the King and King's Court, as well as Presidents and First Council in Puy and their other domains.

Louis Coulombe, born in 1641, son of Jacques and Rolline, left France and travelled to Sainte-Famille-de-l'île-d'Orléans in Quebec, Canada, where he arrived on 30th September 1670. After arriving in Quebec he married Jeanne Foucault, daughter of Nicolas and Marguerite, at the end of 1670. 1

Early History of the Columbia family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Columbia research. Another 232 words (17 lines of text) covering the years 1251, 1300, 1308, 1360, 1430, 1450, 1451, 1492, 1493, 1498, 1502, 1506, 1513, 1638, 1644, 1692, 1700 and 1717 are included under the topic Early Columbia History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Columbia Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Coulombe, Colombe, Coulomb, Colomb, Columbe, Columb, Coloumb, Coloumbe, Coulumb, Coulumbe, Coulon, Coulons, Coulont, Coullombe, Coullomb, Coullon, Coullons, Coullont, Coullomb, Collombe, Collon and many more.

Early Notables of the Columbia family

Notable amongst the name was Michel Colombe (c. 1430-c. 1513), a French sculptor whose work bridged the late Gothic and Renaissance styles; Jean Colombe (c. 1430-1493), a French miniature painter and illuminator of manuscripts; Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer, in 1492 he departed from Palos de la Frontera, the Santa María ran aground on Christmas Day 1492, he had to leave 39 men behind, in September 1493 he left with a fleet of 17 ships, his third voyage was in...
Another 84 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Columbia Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Columbia family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Charles Auguste Coulomb settled in Philadelphia in 1850; Coulon, aged 27; settled in New Orleans in 1822; Joseph Coulon settled in Philadelphia in 1798.

Contemporary Notables of the name Columbia (post 1700) +

Columbia Tatone, American film director, writer, producer, and photographer, known for Commercial Mom (2018), Red Eye Organization: Building Legacy (2017) and Bob The Drag Queen: Purse First (2016)

Citations +

Olivier, Reginald L. Your Ancient Canadian Family Ties. Logan: The Everton Publishers, Inc., P.O. Box 368, 1972. Print