Explore the Family Name Belleau
The meaning of Belleau
French: 1. habitational name from Belleau, principally the name of a place in Meurthe-et-Moselle, which is recorded as early as 1047 as Bella Aqua (‘lovely water’) in Latin. It may also have been the name of unidentified or lost hamlets elsewhere in France (compare Bellew 1). Belleau in Aisne is a further possible source but this placename, recorded as Balliolum in 1231, has a different origin and it is not known if it gave rise to a surname or whether its re-formation as Belleau (a piece of folk etymology) took place early enough to affect the pronunciation of any such surname. 2. nickname from Old French beu, bel ‘beautiful’ (see Bel) + the diminutive suffix -eau. Compare Ballou 2. History: Blaise Belleau dit Larose from Queyssac in Dordogne, France, married Hélène Calais in Quebec City, QC, in 1673. Some characteristic forenames: French Lucien, Marcel.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Belleau in the United States?
Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Belleau saw a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Belleau ranked as the 34,150th most popular surname in the United States, slipping to 35,345th in 2010 – a drop of 3.5 percent. The actual count of people with this surname rose slightly from 628 to 637, showing a minimal increase of 1.43 percent. However, when adjusted for population size, the proportion of individuals with the Belleau surname per 100,000 people decreased by 4.35 percent over the same period.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #34,150 | #35,345 | -3.5% |
| Count | 628 | 637 | 1.43% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.23 | 0.22 | -4.35% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Belleau
In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority of individuals with the surname Belleau are white, with this group making up 91.88 percent of all Belleaus in 2000 and increasing slightly to 92.31 percent in 2010. Hispanic individuals comprise the second largest group at 2.07 percent in 2000, decreasing marginally to 2.04 percent in 2010. The percentage of Belleaus identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native also saw a small reduction from 4.30 percent in 2000 to 3.92 percent in 2010. There were no recorded Belleaus of Asian/Pacific Islander ethnicity in either year, but by 2010 a small percentage (0.78 percent) identified as being of two or more races. The number of Black individuals with this surname decreased by 15.32 percent over the decade.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 91.88% | 92.31% | 0.47% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 4.3% | 3.92% | -8.84% |
| Hispanic | 2.07% | 2.04% | -1.45% |
| Black | 1.11% | 0.94% | -15.32% |
| Two or More Races | 0% | 0.78% | 0% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0% | 0% | 0% |