Bellemare (; ) is a Norman surname, that means "somebody from Bellemare", name of several hamlets in Normandy (± 20Beaurepaire (Charles de), Laporte (dom Jean), Dictionnaire topographique du département de la Seine-Maritime, Paris, 1982-1984, p. 69 Poret de Blosseville (Ernest), Dictionnaire topographique du département de l'Eure, Paris, 1877. Hippeau (Célestin), Dictionnaire topographique du département du Calvados, Paris, 1883 ). It is also one of the most common family names in Mauricie, Quebec. It is a compound of French belle "nice, pretty" and mare "mere, lake, pond", Norman word of Old Norse origin marr "sea", finally borrowed from Norman by French around 1600 as "pond, puddle".CNRTL site : Etymology of mare (French)
History of the Canadian Bellemares The Bellemares share a common ancestor with the Gélinas: Étienne Gellineau, a , or maker of serge fabric, from La Salenderie, close to Saintes in France's Saintonge area (now known as Charente-Maritime). Gellineau married France Huguette Robert in Saint-Michel's catholic Church 27 June 1645. He settled the Mauricie area in 1658 and worked for three years as an indentured servant for Pierre Boucher, Governor of Trois-Rivières. Gellineau had three sons: Étienne, Jean-Baptiste and Pierre. Jean-Baptiste eventually took the name Bellemare.Généalogie - Famille Jean-Louis Gélinas Leslie Choquette, Frenchmen into Peasants: Modernity and Tradition in the Peopling of French Canada, 1997
Traditions Rituals preserved by the Bellemares include the paternal blessing (). Until the mid-1980s and in some cases even to this day, it has been customary for the children and grandchildren of a Bellemare family unit to ask their patriarch to bless them on New Year's Day. The practice is not exclusive to the Bellemare Family.
People Notable people with the name include:
Adélard Bellemare (1871–1933), Canadian politician Alex Bellemare (born 1993), Canadian skier Annie Bellemare (born 1980), Canadian figure skater Daniel Bellemare (born 1952), Canadian prosecutor Daniel Bellemare (figure skater) (born 1980), Canadian figure skater Diane Bellemare (born 1949), Canadian economist and politician Dionel Bellemare (1880–1950), Canadian politician Eugène Bellemare (1932–2018), Canadian politician Gilles Bellemare (composer) (born 1952), Canadian composer, conductor, and music educator Gilles Bellemare (politician) (1932–1980), member of the National Assembly of Quebec Jonathan Bellemare (born 1982), Canadian ice hockey player Marc Bellemare (born 1956), Canadian lawyer and politician Maurice Bellemare (1912–1989), Canadian politician Michel Bellemare (born 1967), Canadian politician Pierre Bellemare (1929–2018), French writer, novelist, radio personality, television presenter, TV producer, and director Pierre-Édouard Bellemare (born 1985), French ice hockey player Rose-Eliandre Bellemare (born 1989), French artistic gymnast Rykko Bellemare, Canadian film actor Sylvain Bellemare (born 1968), Canadian sound editor and sound designer
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