Richard Family Origins & Migration 
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Saintonge
New France 1600s
Royalist France
Acadian
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1375 - Area of Saintonge was definitively incorporated into France.
1600 - France, Saintonge: Jean André dit Richard born about 1600 and son Michel Sansoucy dit Richard about 1630.
{Red area of map of France below left].
1652 - Michel [White Line] migrated to L'Acadie in New France [now Nova Scotia] where he lived out his life
as a farmer and fathered many children, grandchildren and great grand children before his death in 1680.
1755 - Acadian Expulsion [Black Line]: Michel's great great grandson Joseph Ignace Richard, at age 13, along
with his entire family and thousands of other Acadians, were expelled by the British and transported
to and imprisoned at Liverpool [Red Line} where his mother died. He was later repatriated and lived at
Belle Ile-en-Mer in southwestern France.
1785 - To America [Purple Line]: Joseph's son Basile Marie Richard, born at Belle Ile-en-Mer, emigrated from
France to New Orleans in 1785, making him the first of our ancestors to establish our family in
Louisiana.
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Name Origin & Heraldic Arms
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Saintonge, France
Traditional
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Saintonge
Charente-Maritime Modern
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Richard d'Abancourt
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Richard Contemporary
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Richard Ancient at
CentreAcadien
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[Genealogy.about.com]
Definition: Derived from the given name Richard and meaning "powerful or brave," this surname is
Germanic in origin, composed of the elements "ric" meaning power and "hard" meaning hardy or brave.
Example: Richard the Lion Hearted.
Surname Origin: English
Alternate Surname Spellings: RICHERD, RICKARD, RICARD, RICKARD, RICHARDS
[http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/r/richard.php]
Of a powerful, rich, or generous disposition, from ric, rich, and ard, nature or disposition.
Source: An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names With an Essay on their Derivation
and Import; Arthur, William, M.A.; New York, NY: Sheldon, Blake, Bleeker & CO., 1857.
[Ancestry.com]
English, French, German, and Dutch: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements ric ‘power(ful)’ + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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Richard Factoids
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Charts compiled by Ancestry.com from US Census data. Search tools can not distiguish between
French ancestry Richard and English ancestry Richard. Many Acadians were resettled in northeastern
states and were still there in 1840.
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