Find out how popular the last name Tousignant is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Tousignant.

Tousignant, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Tousignant surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Tousignant in America

Tousignant is the 18751st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Tousignant surname appeared 1,463 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Tousignant.

We can also compare 2010 data for Tousignant to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Tousignant

The surname TOUSIGNANT is of French origin and can be traced back to the 16th century in the Poitou region of western France. It is believed to be derived from the old French word "tousant" or "touzant," which means "shearing" or "cutting," likely referring to an occupation or trade.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name TOUSIGNANT appears in a document from the Deux-Sèvres department of Poitou-Charentes in 1562, where a certain Jean Tousignant is mentioned. This suggests that the name was already established in that region by the mid-16th century.

In the 17th century, several TOUSIGNANT families were recorded in the parish registers of various towns and villages in the Poitou region, such as Niort, Melle, and Parthenay. These records provide valuable insights into the early history and spread of the TOUSIGNANT name within France.

The TOUSIGNANT name is also found in the records of the French settlers who arrived in New France (present-day Quebec, Canada) in the 17th and 18th centuries. One of the earliest known TOUSIGNANT immigrants was Pierre Tousignant, who arrived in Quebec around 1665 and settled in the region of Beaupré.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the TOUSIGNANT surname. One example is Jean-Baptiste Tousignant (1745-1810), a French-Canadian farmer and militia officer who fought in the American Revolutionary War. Another is François-Xavier Tousignant (1782-1855), a Quebec politician and merchant.

In the 19th century, Édouard Tousignant (1843-1911) was a prominent Quebec lawyer and judge, while in the 20th century, Lucien Tousignant (1909-1988) was a Canadian politician and member of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec.

The TOUSIGNANT name has also been associated with various place names, particularly in Quebec. For instance, the village of Tousignant, located in the municipality of Saint-Norbert-d'Arthabaska, was named after a TOUSIGNANT family that settled in the area in the 19th century.

While the surname TOUSIGNANT has evolved over time, with variations in spelling such as Touzignant or Thouzignant appearing in historical records, the core meaning and origin of the name remain rooted in the French language and the Poitou region of France.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Tousignant

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Tousignant.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Tousignant was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Tousignant has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Tousignant was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Tousignant, please contact us.

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