Dugas History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France

Etymology of Dugas

What does the name Dugas mean?

The surname Dugas is generally believed to be derived from the Old French word "gast," which means "untilled,"and accordingly, the original bearer must have owned unused arable land. A French family in the ancient region of Auvergne was the first to use the name Dugas.

Early Origins of the Dugas family

The surname Dugas was first found in Auvergne, a historic province in south central France where this distinguished family held a family seat in the seigneurie of Chassagny in the arrondisement of Beaune, in the Lyonnaise region of Auvergne.

By the 13th century they had located at Bois St. Just as one of their principal seats. Through intermarriage with the distinguished family of Trouin they became seated at Trouin du Guay. They moved north to île-de-France in the region of Paris, a branch of which moved west to Anjou, also west to Guyenne and Gascony, and to Brittany. Later they acquired the estates of Varennes at Catonière in Lyon. Gaspard Dughet was a French designer and painter, 1615-1675. They flourished on their estates for many centuries until the French Revolution in 1789.

Jacques Duguay, born in 1647, son of Michel and Catherine (née Lebret), was a French surgeon that settled in Canada in the 17th century. He married Jeanne Beaudry, daughter of Urbain and Marie-Jeanne (née Soulard), at Trois-Rivières, Quebec on 21st November 1672. 1

Early History of the Dugas family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Dugas research. The years 1615, 1673, 1675 and 1736 are included under the topic Early Dugas History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dugas 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 Dugas, including Dugas, Dugaz, Duguè, Ducas, Duguet, Dugay, Duguay, Dughet, Duguet, Duguie, Dugue, du Gas, du Guay and many more.

Early Notables of the Dugas family

Another 24 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Dugas Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Dugas World Ranking

In the United States, the name Dugas is the 4,452^nd most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 2 However, in Canada, the name Dugas is ranked the 907^th most popular surname with an estimated 5,944 people with that name. 3 And in Quebec, Canada, the name Dugas is the 476^th popular surname. 4 France ranks Dugas as 3,673^rd with 1,500 - 2,000 people. 5

Dugas migration to the United States +

In the 1700s, land incentives were finally given out by France to 2,000 migrants. Early marriage was encouraged in New France, and 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, leaving French names scattered across the continent. The search for the Northwest passage continued. Migration from France to New France or Quebec, as it was now more popularly called, continued until 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 the treaty of Utrecht, Acadia were ceded by France to Britain in 1713. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported. They found refuge in Louisiana. Meanwhile, in Quebec, the French race flourished, founding in Lower Canada, one of the two great solitudes which became Canada. Many of this distinguished family name Dugas were prominent in social, cultural, religious and political affairs in France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Dugas were

Dugas Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Claude Dugas, who landed in Massachusetts in 1763 6
Elizabet Dugas, who arrived in South Carolina in 1763 6
Mr. Jean Baptiste Dugas, (b. 1719), aged 66, French carpenter traveling aboard the ship "Le Bon Papa" arriving in New Orleans, Louisiana on 29th July 1785 7
Mrs. Anne Dugas, (nee Bourg), (b. 1721), aged 64, French settler traveling aboard the ship "Le Bon Papa" arriving in New Orleans, Louisiana on 29th July 1785 7
Miss Anne Dugas, (b. 1764), aged 21, French settler traveling aboard the ship "Le Bon Papa" arriving in New Orleans, Louisiana on 29th July 1785 7
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Dugas Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

Joseph Dugas, who arrived in Louisiana in 1805-1809 6

Dugas migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Dugas Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century

Abraham Dugas, of Brittany, whose marriage to Marguerite Doucet was on record in Port Royal in 1645
Vincent Dugas, who arrived in Quebec in 1683 from Anjou

Dugas Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Abraham Dugas, aged 40, who landed in St Pierre and Miquelon in 1767
Angelique Dugas, aged 22, who arrived in St Pierre and Miquelon in 1767
Francoise Dugas, aged 22, who landed in St Pierre and Miquelon in 1767
Joseph Dugas, aged 53, who landed in St Pierre and Miquelon in 1767
Marguerite Dugas, aged 24, who arrived in St Pierre and Miquelon in 1767
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Contemporary Notables of the name Dugas (post 1700) +

Francis F. Dugas Sr., (1919-2008), American Democratic politician, Louisiana State Representative from Lafourche Parish (1956-1960)
Grady A. Dugas (1923-2007), American physician who invented the "Safer Automatic Wheelchair Wheel"
William Dugas, American politician, member of the Minnesota territorial House of Representatives 5th District in 1849-50
Augustin Joseph "Gus" Dugas (1907-1997), Canadian Major League Baseball player who played from 1930 to 1934
Joseph-Louis-Euclide Dugas (1861-1943), French Canadian farmer and politician, Member of the Canadian Parliament for Montcalm (1891-1900)
Martin Dugas (b. 1972), Canadian former soccer player and coach of the Edmonton Drillers (2007-2009)
François Octave Dugas (1852-1918), Canadian politician, Member of the Canadian Parliament for Montcalm (1900-1909)
Lucien Dugas (1897-1985), Canadian educator, lawyer and politician in Quebec who represented Joliette in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1927 to 1936
Firmin Dugas (1830-1889), French Canadian businessman and politician, Member of the Canadian Parliament for Montcalm (1871-1887)
André Dugas, Quebec lawyer, Partner with Miller Thomson LLP, Canada

Citations +

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/
"Surnames Meanings, Origins & Distribution Maps - Forebears." Forebears, https://forebears.io/surnames
"The first 1,000 family names by rank, Quebec (in French only)" Institut de la statistique du Quebec, https://statistique.quebec.ca/en/document/family-names-in-quebec/tableau/the-first-1000-family-names-by-rank-quebec
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)
7 Ships Arcadian Expedition of 1785. Retrieved 28th September 2021 from http://www.Arcadian-cajun.com/7ships.htm