The associated coat of arms for this name are recorded in J.B Rietstaps Armorial General. Illustrated by V & H.V Rolland's. This Monumental work took 23 years to complete and 85,000 coats of Arms are included in this work. (de la BRIE). This surname of LA BRIE is a French habitation name for someone from any of several places called BRIE. In most cases the name comes from the Gaulic word BRIGA (height, hill), but the places of the name in Aisne and Ille-et-Villaine get their name from the Old French word BRAI. The name is also spelt BRIEUX, BRIAUD, BRIAULT, BRIE and DEBRIE. There is also a place BRIE in the department of Somme, from where the original bearer may have taken his name. A notable member of the name was Eugene BRIEUX (1858-1932) the French dramatist and Academician, born in Paris of poor parents. He experienced many of the social evils which his powerful plays expose. His works include 'The Evasion' (1896) and 'Maternity' (1903). French, or rather Norman French, was the language of the aristocracy and the upper classes in England at the time fixed surnames were being developed, it is therefore not surprising that many of our well-known family names are derived from French words. Originally only Christian or personal names were used, and although a few came into being during the 10th century, surnames were not widely used until much later, when people began to realize the prestige of having a second name. America was colonized by peoples from all over the world in a very short period of time, and mostly, in the case of French immigrants they have stayed together in Louisiana. Of the early immigrants to America the French have fared the worst in respect of their names, chiefly because of the difficulties experienced by the Americans in pronouncing them correctly. Many have been translated into English names. French heraldry bears a close relationship to British. From the Renaissance people tended to place only their coronets of rank upon their helmets. By the 18th century the helmet had also been abandoned and coronets were placed directly above the shield. After the French Revolution of 1789, heraldry was abolished, being replaced some 15 years later by a new Imperial heraldry, characterised by weapons and images of Napoleonic campaigns, crests, helmets and mottoes being removed. |
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