History of the Boyer Surname
While a surname does convey a certain linage in more recent times. Each time period back poses some challenge to a bloodline. Today we see unwed mothers with no father listed. Divorce, remarriage with the second or third father adopting the children or just renaming the children’s last name out of convenience. Just a few generations back it was death of a spouse rather than divorce that lead to multiple marriages and blended children households and renaming of the family last name.
[1] Some are cultural, the French use dit’ or known as to distinguish someone for various reasons. Sometimes the dit name becomes the prominent name and replaces the given surname. And then when we get back far enough our names mean less and less as to whom we may be related.
Around 1000 AD there becomes a need to enumerate persons and families for taxation and keeping track of subjects. Over the next two to three hundred years, people are required to have a surname. Because of how surnames were added or acquired over any distance it was less and less likely someone with the same surname was related in any way other than occupation, location, physical characteristics or demeanor or a relationship to parent.
There are several categories of how European Surnames were constructed. Surnames are littered with occupations some being more common than others. This may have to do with the specialty of the job and the fact that every town or village would have had one. Some of the more popular examples of this are; Baker, Smith, Cook, and others. Some obscure or less obvious in our family Turner and even Boyer. Another type was identifying as the son of your father. So the son of John became Johnson, son of Steve became Stephenson. Location or geographical feature was one way of identifying someone. Brook, Hill. Someone’s physical appearance was another common descriptor that made its way to lasting surnames: Short, Tall, Thick, it also pertained to hair color; Red, White, Black.
Boyer falls under two possible categories. The first is location Boii; a region north of Italy and east of France. The other is a trade as in Bow maker.
Although there are many families of Boyers and many lines and branches of the different families, and some of the lines have sunken into oblivion through misalliance, yet never the less the Boyer family is one of the oldest families of the old French nobles. The name was known at the time of the Roman invasion of Gaul, and many branches of the family participated in the crusades. Our line originated with Etienne Boyer of Notre-Dame-de-Cogne, La Rochelle, France who was living in the early part of the 17th century with his wife Perinne Peineau. It was their son Nicholas Antoine Boyer who, born in 1642, came to New France about the time of his majority.
What is the history of the Boyer family name?
Of all the French names to come from the Languedoc of France, Boyer is one of the most ancient. The name is a result of the original family having lived in Languedoc, where the family was found since the early Middle Ages. The family name Boyer is believed to have originated in Languedoc in the south of France. Its capital is Toulouse. The Romans occupied the region in the year 120 B.C. Vandales, Sueves and the Visigoths and later Franks overran Languedoc in the 5th century. The capital, Toulouse, was also the capital of the ancient kingdom of Aquitaine. The family name Boyer was first found in Languedoc, where the family has been seated since ancient times.
History has changed the spelling of most surnames. Usually a person spoke his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, we have variations in your name, Boyer, some of which are Boyer, Boyet, Boyay, Boyey, Boyé, Boyais, Boier, Boiaie, Boyaie, Boiay, Boiais, de Boyer, de Boyet, de Boyay, de Boyey, de Boyé, du Boyer, Du Boyer, du Boyet, du Boyay, du Boyé , to distinguish but a few.
Moors invaded Languedoc in the 10th century. During the 11th and 12th century Languedoc was invaded by the Lords of Toulouse. It fell prey to the ambitions of the Kings of Aragon and of the Capetians. In the 16th century the region also suffered from the religious conflicts of the time.
The name Boyer was found in Languedoc, where this ancient family were seated with lands, estates and manors. The House of de Boyer originated from Rouergue, Languedoc, where it has been established since the 13th century. Through the marriage of Salvy de Boyer, Lord of Lacoste-Mailhac with Anne de Castanet, daughter of Jean-Honoré de Castanet, Lord of Castanet and Baron of Tauriac, the de Boyer family acquired the House of Tauriac together with its estates. By the 1500’s the family was well established in the region of Languedoc where several members of this prestigious family distinguished themselves through their contribution to the community in which they lived. The family, as a noble family of France, confirmed with letters of patent and heraldic cap, contributed largely to the political as well as the cultural scene of the region. Raymond de Boyer, Lord of Lacoste and of Mailhac, had his name mentioned in 1538. In recognition of his outstanding services on the battlefield, Jehan de Boyer-Mailhac was promoted to the rank of Captain. Another noble member of the family, François de Boyer-Mailhac, Lord of Lacoste and of Mailhac rose to the rank of Captain the army and received letters of congratulations from Louis XIII regarding his excellent services. François de Boyer-Castanet, Marquis de Tauriac, Lord of Beauvais and de La Roque, was created Baron of Roquemaure and became Lieutenant of the King of the province of Rouergue, by letters of patent of March 27, 1721. In appreciation of his contribution he was made Knight of Saint-Louis. Through the years many members of the different branches were granted titles of nobility and among them was Louis- Joseph-Eugène de Boyer-Castanet, Marquis de Tauriac, Viscount of Monclar, Lord of Castanet, Knight of Saint-Louis and Lieutenant of the King of the province of Rouergue by letters of patent of October 16, 1753. In the 19th century, following the same tradition as their ancestors, members of this family were actively involved in the current affairs of their region and many of them received grants of lands, titles and letters of patent confirming their nobility and that of their descendants. One of them, Eugène Anne Adolphe de Boyer-Castanet, Marquis de Tauriac, was elected deputy of the Legislative Assembly, member of the “Académie des Jeux Floraux” and created Knight of the Legion of Honour. To this day, the province of Languedoc is proud to have been the ancestral seat of such a family. Notable amongst the family name at this time was François de Boyer-Castanet, Marquis de Tauriac, Lord of Beauvais.
France adopted the role of European cultural leadership in the early 16th century. The New World challenged. The explorers led missionaries to North America who settled in New France, New England, New Holland, and New Spain. Jacques Cartier made the first of three voyages to New France in 1534. Champlain came in 1608. He made twenty voyages to France to attract settlers. He brought the first true migrant, Louis Hebert, a Parisian apothecary, and his family, who arrived in 1617.
In 1643, 109 years after the first landings by Cartier, there were only about 300 people in Quebec. Migration was slow. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the French Acadian presence in the Maritimes had reached 500. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Boyer were Stephen Boyer settled in Virginia in 1652; Andreas Boyer settled in Philadelphia in 1865; Pierre Boyer settled in Louisiana in 1757; and our ancestor Nicolas Boyer arrived in Ville Marie in 1664.
Those arriving in later years, as well as subsequent generations of the earlier immigrants, followed opportunities westward, in homesteading, industry and mining. A flood of fortune-seekers journeyed to California upon the discovery of gold; more than 80,000 arrived in 1849 alone, nearly tripling the territory’s population.