Bellemare

Bellemare (/ˈbɛlmɑːr/; French pronunciation: [bɛlmɑʁ]) is a Norman surname, that means "somebody from Bellemare", name of several hamlets in Normandy (± 20^[1]^[2]^[3]). It is also one of the most common family names in Mauricie, Quebec. It is a compound of French belle "nice, pretty" and mare "mere, lake, pond", Norman word of Old Norse origin marr "sea", finally borrowed from Norman by French around 1600 as "pond, puddle".^[4]

History of the Canadian Bellemares

The Bellemares share a common ancestor with the Gélinas: Étienne Gellineau, a sargier, or maker of serge fabric, from La Salenderie, close to Saintes in France's Saintonge area (now known as Charente-Maritime). Gellineau married France Huguette Robert in Saint-Michel's catholic Church 27 June 1645. He settled the Mauricie area in 1658 and worked for three years as an indentured servant for Pierre Boucher, Governor of Trois-Rivières. Gellineau had three sons: Étienne, Jean-Baptiste and Pierre. Jean-Baptiste eventually took the name Bellemare.^[5]^[6]^[why?]

Traditions

Rituals preserved by the Bellemares include the paternal blessing (French: la benédiction paternelle). Until the mid-1980s and in some cases even to this day, it has been customary for the children and grandchildren of a Bellemare family unit to ask their patriarch to bless them on New Year's Day. The practice is not exclusive to the Bellemare Family.

People

Notable people with the name include:

Adélard Bellemare (1871–1933), Canadian politician
Alex Bellemare (born 1993), Canadian skier
Annie Bellemare (born 1980), Canadian figure skater
Daniel Bellemare (born 1952), Canadian prosecutor
Daniel Bellemare (figure skater) (born 1980), Canadian figure skater
Diane Bellemare (born 1949), Canadian economist and politician
Dionel Bellemare (1880–1950), Canadian politician
Eugène Bellemare (born 1932), Canadian politician
Gilles Bellemare (composer) (born 1952), Canadian composer, conductor, and music educator
Gilles Bellemare (politician) (1932–1980), member of the National Assembly of Quebec
Jonathan Bellemare (born 1982), Canadian ice hockey player
Marc Bellemare (born 1956), Canadian lawyer and politician
Maurice Bellemare (1912–1989), Canadian politician
Michel Bellemare (born 1967), Canadian politician
Pierre Bellemare (1929-2018), French writer, novelist, radio personality, television presenter, TV producer, and director
Pierre-Édouard Bellemare (born 1985), French ice hockey player
Rose-Eliandre Bellemare (born 1989), French artistic gymnast
Rykko Bellemare, Canadian film actor
Sylvain Bellemare (born 1968), Canadian sound editor and sound designer

Footnotes

^ Beaurepaire (Charles de), Laporte (dom Jean), Dictionnaire topographique du département de la Seine-Maritime, Paris, 1982-1984, p. 69 [1]
^ Poret de Blosseville (Ernest), Dictionnaire topographique du département de l'Eure, Paris, 1877. [2]
^ Hippeau (Célestin), Dictionnaire topographique du département du Calvados, Paris, 1883 [3]
^ CNRTL site : Etymology of mare (French)
^ Généalogie - Famille Jean-Louis Gélinas Archived January 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
^ Leslie Choquette, Frenchmen into Peasants: Modernity and Tradition in the Peopling of French Canada, 1997

This page lists people with the surname Bellemare.
If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name(s) to the link.

[1] Beaurepaire (Charles de), Laporte (dom Jean), Dictionnaire topographique du département de la Seine-Maritime, Paris, 1982-1984, p. 69 [1]

[2] Poret de Blosseville (Ernest), Dictionnaire topographique du département de l'Eure, Paris, 1877. [2]

[3] Hippeau (Célestin), Dictionnaire topographique du département du Calvados, Paris, 1883 [3]

[4] CNRTL site : Etymology of mare (French)

[5] Généalogie - Famille Jean-Louis Gélinas Archived January 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine

[6] Leslie Choquette, Frenchmen into Peasants: Modernity and Tradition in the Peopling of French Canada, 1997

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