Tremblay
A French surname meaning someone from a place named for trembling poplars or aspen trees.
The #4,438 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 38,612 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Tremblay is a French place-based surname, originally taken from one of several localities named Le Tremblay or Tremblay. Those place names are generally linked to Old French tremble, meaning an aspen or poplar tree, so the literal sense is something like "place of the aspens." The surname therefore began as a label for someone who came from such a place.
History
The name is common in France and especially well known in French Canada, where it became one of the most familiar Quebec surnames. English-language surname books also note possible links to Norman place-names and related French forms such as Tremble and Tremblez. In North America, Tremblay is strongly associated with Quebec and Acadian family history.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Tremblay is so widespread in Quebec that it has long been treated as a classic French-Canadian surname, much like Smith in English-speaking contexts.
From the historical record
“loc. n., Cornw. Tremble. Fr. Tremblay; a p.n. From le Tremblay ; a loc. n., Norm.; or Trembleur; aloe, n., Belg. Or see Turnbull Tremellen. From Tremellin ; a”
— British Family Names: their origin and meaning (2nd ed.)