# Bellemare

Bellemare (/ˈbɛlmɑːr/; French pronunciation:) is a Norman surname, that means "somebody from Bellemare", name of several hamlets in Normandy (± 20). 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".

## History of the Canadian Bellemares

The Bellemares share a common ancestor with the Gélinas: Étienne Gellineau, a sargier, 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.

### Traditions

Rituals preserved by the Bellemares include the paternal blessing (French: la benédiction paternelle). 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 (born 1932), 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

## Footnotes

* ↑ Beaurepaire (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
* ↑ CNRTL site : Etymology of mare (French)
* ↑ Généalogie - Famille Jean-Louis Gélinas Archived January 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
* ↑ Leslie Choquette, Frenchmen into Peasants: Modernity and Tradition in the Peopling of French Canada, 1997