Béliveau Explained

Belliveau is an Acadian surname brought to North America before 1650 by Antoine Belliveau, who was among the first 50 French immigrant families to colonize Port Royal in l'Acadie (Acadia), present day Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada, in unceded Mi'kmaq territory. In the diaspora following Le Grand Dérangement (The Great Upheaval) in 1755, in which about 10,000 Acadians were imprisoned and deported by the British at the outset of the War of the Conquest (Seven Years' War), several Belliveau descendants settled in Québec, Canada where the surname became known as Béliveau or Beliveau.

This French-Canadian surname is found today in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Québec in Canada and throughout New England in the United States, and elsewhere. In 2024 in Québec, Béliveau ranks as the 422nd most common French surname.^[1]

Notable people with the surname include:

• Antoine Belliveau (1621–aft.1686), First Belliveau to settle in North America from France
• Pierre (Piau) Belliveau (1706–1767), led more than 100 Acadians in escaping Le Grand Dérangement^[2]
• Alphée Belliveau (1851–1927), pioneering French-speaking Acadian teacher and school administrator^[3]
• Juliette Béliveau (1889–1975), French-Canadian actress and singer
• Jean Béliveau (1931–2014), Canadian ice hockey player
• Sterling Belliveau (born 1953), Canadian politician in Nova Scotia
• Véronique Béliveau (born 1955), Canadian pop/rock singer and actress
• Eugene Belliveau (born 1958), Canadian football defensive tackle
• Cynthia Belliveau (born 1963), Canadian actress
• Jeff Beliveau (born 1987), American baseball pitcher

See also

• Belliveau Cove, Nova Scotia, Acadian community
• Collège Béliveau, college in Western Canada
• Colisée Jean Béliveau, ice-hockey arena, named after Jean Béliveau
• Jean Béliveau Trophy, ice-hockey award, named after Jean Béliveau

Notes and References

1. Web site: The first 1,000 family names by rank, Québec (in French only) . Institut de la statistique du Québec . Gouvernement du Québec . 20 January 2024.
2. Web site: Gaudet . Placide . Acadian History . Acadian & French Canadian Ancestral Home . Lucie LeBlanc Consentino . 20 January 2024.
3. Web site: Basque . Maurice . BELLIVEAU, ALPHÉE . Dictionary of Canadian Biography . University of Toronto/Université Laval . 20 January 2024.