Nouvelle was first settled by Acadians fleeing the deportation of 1755, fish merchants from Jersey, Channel Islands and some Irish. The name Nouvelle (French meaning "new") was used as early as the end of the 18th century and stood for the "new land" being made available West of town now called Carleton-sur-Mer. It first appeared on documents in 1787, by a Jersey business man Charles Robin, and Abbé Joseph Mathurin Bourg, the first Acadian priest.