Lamar History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Lamar was originally “De La Mare, from the great fief of La Mare, near St. Opportune, in the comune of Autretot, Normandy; where their castle was built upon piles on the margin of the lake still called Grande-mare.” [1]

One source claims the name was derived from the Old French word “marre,” meaning “a ram.”

Early Origins of the Lamar family

The surname Lamar was first found in Normandy where “Sire de la Mare is one of the Norman nobles enumerated by Wace at the battle of Hastings; and the family became very numerous both in Normandy and England. Sir William de la Mare, and his lands in the valley of La Mare, are mentioned in a charter of St. Louis, dated 1259; and as many as nine Sires de La Mare (almost all of them bearing different arms) are entered on the roll of “Gentilshommes de la Normandie” given in the Nobiliaire.” [1]

The ancestor of the English families, Norman de La Mare, lived c. 1030 and Hugo de La Mare occurs in the Breton charter in 1070. This was one of his sons, of whom four went to Englandat the Conquest. [2]

William de Mare was an undertenant in Wiltshire and Herefordshire according to the Domesday Book of 1086. [3]

Early History of the Lamar family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Lamar research.

Lamar Spelling Variations

History has changed the spelling of most surnames. During the early development of the French language in the Middle Ages, a person gave his version of his name, phonetically, to a scribe, a priest, or a recorder. Some variables were adopted by different branches of the family name. Hence, there spelling variations of the name Lamar, some of which include Marre, Marres, Mar, La Marre, La Mare, La Marres, La Mares, La Mar, Maur, Maure, Maures, Maurre, Maurres, More, Mores, Morre, Mars, Maurs, Moure, Mourre, Merre, Mer, Mere and many more.

Lamar Ranking

In the United States, the name Lamar is the 2,343^rd most popular surname with an estimated 12,435 people with that name. [4]

 Lamar migration to the United States +

By 1643 there were only about 300 people in Quebec. Since immigration was slow, early marriage was desperately encouraged amongst the immigrants. The fur trade attracted migrants, both noble and commoner. 15,000 explorers left Montreal in the late 17th and 18th centuries. By 1675, there were 7000 French in Quebec. By the same year the Acadian presence in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island had reached 500. In 1755, 10,000 French Acadians refused to take an oath of allegiance to England and were deported to Louisiana. The French founded Lower Canada, thus becoming one of the two great founding nations of Canada. The distinguished family name Lamar has made significant contributions to the culture, arts, sciences and religion of France and New France. Amongst the settlers in North America with this distinguished name Lamar were 

Lamar Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

• Frances LaMar, who landed in Virginia in 1637 [5]
• Thomas Lamar, who landed in Virginia in 1660 [5]

Lamar Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

• Phial Lamar, who arrived in Virginia in 1705 [5]
• Anton Lamar, who landed in America in 1783 [5]

Contemporary Notables of the name Lamar (post 1700) +

• William Harmong “Good Time Bill” Lamar (1897-1970), American Major League Baseballleft fielder
• Holly Lamar, American country music singer-songwriter
• Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (1825-1893), American politician and jurist from Mississippi, United States Secretary of the Interior
• Joseph Rucker Lamar (1857-1916), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court appointed by President William Howard Taft
• Craig Lamar Traylor (b. 1989), American actor, known for Malcolm in the Middle (2000), Matilda (1996) and Fred & Vinnie (2011)
• Kelvin Lamar Sholar (b. 1973), American pianist, bandleader, producer and composer
• Keith Lamar Johnson (1972-2022), birth name of Wonderboy, an American gospel singer-songwriter
• Howard Lamar Wink, American Pennsylvanian Planning Engineer, General Motors
• Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (b. 1987), American rapper, songwriter and record producer from Compton, California
• Alcee Lamar Hastings (1936-2021), American politician and jurist, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida (1993-2021)