Coat of Arms & Family Crest Details
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“De gu. à trois lions d'arg., arm., lamp. et cour. d'or.”
A record of documented arms, meaning and origin, researched for the Dupey family of France.
J. B. Rietstap, Armorial Général, Gouda: G. B. van Goor Zonen, 1884–87
Blazon (the actual original written record)“De gu. à trois lions d'arg., arm., lamp. et cour. d'or.”
The Dupey arms were recorded in Bretagne, c. 1663.
More families held coats of arms in Bretagne than anywhere else in France. The land was divided into many small estates rather than a few large ones, so far more households counted as gentry, and each needed a shield of its own to be told apart.
This is where the arms were entered in the register. Families often moved to other parts of the country, so the same name can turn up in more than one region.
In France, a coat of arms was a mark of honor that passed down through the male line to all legitimate descendants. Families often used the same shield without changes to show their shared heritage. If a branch wanted to stand out, they could add a small mark to their shield to show their specific place in the family tree.
The surname Dupey originates from the French language and is rooted in the landscape of the Brittany region. The name is a topographic descriptor, meaning it was originally used to identify people who lived near a specific type of hill or elevated terrain. By 1663, records confirm that members of the family were well-established within the social and agricultural fabric of Bretagne. During this period, the family likely lived as part of a rural community where their daily lives revolved around the local parish and the seasonal rhythms of the land. Because the name identifies a connection to a specific physical feature, it suggests that the early Dupey ancestors were deeply tied to the geography of their home province long before the seventeenth century.
derived from the Latin word podium meaning an elevated place or hill
