Landry (surname) explained
Landry is a surname of French origin. Landry appears in the names of towns in France, Canada and the United States, as well as three canonized saints.
History
Landry: It was not until the early Middle Ages that surnames were introduced to distinguish between numbers of people bearing the same personal or Christian name. Landry is of patronymic origin, coming from Landericus, belonging to that category of names derived from the first name of the father or ancestor. In this case, the name simply denotes "the son of Landry", a popular personal name during the medieval period, early forms of which included Landri, and the regional variant Landry. Today in France, the name is also found in the forms of Landrin and Landron. The name is in fact, of ultimate Germanic origin, being derived from the old baptismal name "Land-rick", a composite name which signifies, literally, "land/country-powerful".
Different spellings of the same original surname are a common occurrence. Dictionaries of surnames indicate probable spelling variations of Landry to be:
- L'andre
- Landre
- Landri
- Landro
- Landrey
- Lendry
It appears, however, that it is not known for certain when the name was first recorded.
Although Landry is considered French in origin, it is not found throughout France. Rather it seems to have been concentrated around three small villages, south of the town of Loudon, province of Poitou: LaChausee, Martaize and Aulnay. In Quebec, however, the surname is quite commonly spread, along with Ladrie of probably similar origin.
I am given to understand that the Landry name is well known in the area around Loudun in Poitou, but is rather hard to find elsewhere in France.
Professor Stephen A. White, Genealogist at the Universite De Moncton in New Brunswick. N. Bujold and M. Caillebeau, Les origines francaises des premieres familles acadiennes:le sud Loundais (Poitiers:Imprimeirie L'Union, 1979) p. 32
List of persons with the surname
- Adolphe Landry (1874–1956), French demographer and politician
- Ali Landry (born 1973), American actress and model
- Andrew Landry (born 1987), American golfer
- Beau Landry (born 1991), Canadian football player
- Bernard Landry (1937–2018), Premier of Quebec
- Carl Landry (born 1983), American basketball player
- Cindy Landry (born 1972), Canadian pair skater
- Dan Landry (born 1970), American volleyball player
- Dawan Landry (born 1982), American football player
- Geoffroy IV de la Tour Landry (c. 1320–1391), French nobleman who compiled Livre pour l'enseignement de ses filles
- Ghislaine Landry (born 1988), Canadian rugby player
- Greg Landry (born 1946), American football player
- H. Scott Landry (born 1948 or 1949), American politician
- Hagan Landry (born 1994), American Paralympic athlete
- Harold Landry (born 1996), American football player
- Jarvis Landry (born 1992), American football player
- Jeanne Landry (1922–2011), Canadian composer, pianist and teacher
- Jeff Landry (born 1970), American politician
- Joseph Aristide Landry (1817–1881), US Congressman
- Joseph P. Landry (1922–2008), Canadian Senator
- Kyle Landry (born 1986), Canadian basketball player
- LaRon Landry (born 1984), American football player
- Michelle Landry (born 1962), Australian politician
- Nelly Landry (1916–2010), Belgian-born tennis player who later became a French citizen
- Sir Pierre-Amand Landry (1846–1916), Canadian lawyer, judge, and political figure
- Pierre Henri Landry (1899–1990), French tennis player
- Richard Landry (born 1957), Canadian architect
- Robert B. Landry (1909–2000), Major General US Air Force, adviser to President Truman
- Ron Landry (1943–2020), American politician and lawyer
- Ross Landry, Canadian politician
- Sirkka-Liisa Landry (1926–2008), Finnish chess master
- Tom Landry (1924–2000), American football player and coach
St. Landry
See also
