History of the House of LeClaire

Recorded spellings of the surname

The House of LeClaire is documented under seven spellings

Medieval and early-modern records of this family show a continuous thread of the same surname under a variety of orthographies. Every spelling below refers to the same documented lineage of the House of LeClaire.

• Le Clercc. 1310 – 17th century · Lorraine, FranceThe earliest documented spelling of the House. Appears in the 1355 charter of Mengin (Moingins) Le Clerc, ancestor of the line.
• Leclerc16th century – present · France (nationwide)The modern French one-word spelling, standardised after the Renaissance and still the most common form in France today.
• Le Clair16th – 19th century · Lorraine, RhinelandA transitional spelling recorded during the family's eastward movement into the Rhineland; a phonetic softening of Le Clerc.
• Leclair17th century – present · France, Québec, LouisianaA widespread one-word French and Franco-North-American variant, borne today by families in France, Canada and the United States.
• Le Claire18th – 19th century · England, FranceThe Anglicised two-word spelling adopted as the family established itself in Britain from the eighteenth century onward.
• LeClaire19th century – present · England, United StatesThe modern one-word English spelling now borne by the principal line of the House, from the late nineteenth century to the present day.
• Licklär17th – 19th century · Rhineland, Palatinate, GermanyThe Germanised phonetic rendering used by the Rhineland branch, reflecting how French Le Clerc sounded to German ears after generations east of the Rhine.