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Origin of the Marill surname

 

 

 

 

 

The extensive research made since years by a group of Marill with the assistance of the Catalan Genealogical Society show clearly that the small city of Maureillas, near Perpignan, South-West France, is indeed the birth location of the surname.

 

I would like to praise particularly Josette Marill of Perpignan and Alain Marill of Paris who are doing an amazing research work.

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The name is appearing in records dating back to the 1500s.

The church records of that time are indicating that an important number of Marill were living in Maureillas.  Then the Marill started to spread around the neighbouring town of Céret and the village of Las Illas (the “Marill Triangle”).

 

Later, of course, some Marill started to settle on the other side of the Pyrenees into what is nowadays the Spanish province of Barcelona (Catalonia South), while other Marill moved progressively to various parts of France and some of them went abroad or emigrated to the New World.

 

Céret, Maureillas and Las Illas are very close to each other within a radius of 5 miles, some 25 miles south of the city  of Perpignan, the capital of the Roussillon region (also called Catalonia North). Las Illas is approximately half a mile from the Spanish border.  Still today, there is no road leading to the border, only a rough trail going through the mountain.

 

Since 1715 all my ancestors were born in Céret area, precisely in the three Mas (Farmhouse) that are within walking distance of each other: Mas d’en Pallagordi, Mas Ponet and Mas Palol.  

 

I am currently trying to find the missing link with Jacobus (Latin) or Jaume (Catalan) Marill born in the city of Maureillas circa 1520.

Looking at the marriage records of the city of Céret from the mid 1500s to 1676, the surname Marill is appearing there for the first time on August 13, 1645: a marriage between Francisco Marill of Maureillas and Catarina Soler.  It shows that prior to that date the Marills were living in Maureillas.

 

In 1841 the Marill name was one of most the most common names in Céret:

Coste, Mas, Roca, Farré, Llobet, Justafré, Xambo, Pons, Guisset, Tarris, Delclos, Marill, Soler, Miquel, Vilacèque, Auzeill, Badenne.

 

The surname is purely Catalan and is associated with the Catalan history, culture and language. Until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659 between the kings of France and Aragon (Spain) the contemporary Spanish province of Catalonia and the French region of the Roussillon, South West France (also called now North Catalonia) were belonging to the House of Aragon.

 

The surname Marill is rather seldom, which, to a certain degree, makes the genealogical research easier. Nowadays, the highest number of people bearing the Marill surname across the world is in France. Vital statistics from the French National Institute of Statistics show that 246 Marill were born in France between 1891 and 1990.

There is a handfull of Marills in Spain, essentially in the Province of Barcelona and a very small number of Marills in Argentina, Chile, Cuba, Germany, Peru and the United States of America.

 

Additionally, traces of people bearing the Marill surname who have lived in Austria,  Latvia, Poland, have been found. Their descendants have emigrated to the USA and a contact has been established with them. The link with Catalonia is doubtful. One of them is the opinion that the name Marill comes from a modification of the name Maharil which has its origin in a different culture.

 

Meaning of the surname Marill:

 

From Jean Tosti’s web site (www.jtosti.com):

Unknown meaning. It could be a topographical name, but there is none of that kind in the region.

 

A doubtful explanation has been found in a French genealogical web site:

From the latin "matricularius" i.e. a person who administers a register in a church. Also synonym of sacristan during the middle ages. During the 12th century this function was written mainly as "Mareglier" and later as "Marillier" in France and “Marill” in  Catalonia.

 

 

 


Marill surname across the world

 

 

 

 

 

France

 

 

 

 Breakdown by “département” of the Marills born in France between 1891 and 1990

 

Département

1891-1915

1916-1940

1941-1965

1966-1990

Total

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pyrénées Orientales

43

34

17

11

105

Paris

2

7

9

3

21

Aude

2

1

1

1

5

Haute-Garonne

1

 

2

7

10

Herault

1

1

3

1

6

Bouches du Rhone

1

7

2

9

19

Alpes Maritimes

2

1

 

 

3

Allier

1

 

 

 

1

Corse

1

 

 

 

 

Var

 

1

3

2

6

Aveyron

 

1

1

 

2

Meurthe et Moselle

 

2

 

1

3

Moselle

 

1

6

3

10

Nord

 

1

 

 

1

Ariège

 

 

2

 

2

Tarn

 

 

2

 

2

Lozère

 

 

2

 

2

Alpes Haute Provence

 

 

1

 

1

Vaucluse

 

 

1

 

1

Pyrénées Atlantiques

 

 

1

 

1

Gironde

 

 

1

3

4

Indre

 

 

3

1

4

Cher

 

 

1

 

1

Aube

 

 

1

 

1

Yvelines

 

 

2

 

2

Manche

 

 

3

 

3

Seine Maritime

 

 

1

 

1

Somme

 

 

1

 

1

Gard

 

 

 

2

2

Lot

 

 

 

1

1

Puy de Dome

 

 

 

2

2

Isere

 

 

 

3

3

Rhone

 

 

 

2

2

Loire Atlantique

 

 

 

3

3

Ille et Vilaine

 

 

 

1

1

Essonne

 

 

 

1

1

Val d'Oise

 

 

 

1

1

Côte d'Or

 

 

 

1

1

Haut Rhin

 

 

 

1

1

Bas Rhin

 

 

 

1

1

Val de Marne

 

 

 

3

3

Hauts de Seine

 

 

 

4

4

Seine Saint Denis

 

 

 

1

1

Total

54

57

66

69

246

 

Comments:  the statistics prove that at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century 80% of the Marills were born in the Département of the Pyrénées Orientales and the others were spread out in the neighbouring Départements in the south of France with the exception of 2 Marills born in Paris.

 

 

Actual breakdown of the Marills in France by “Département”

 

Source: French White pages July 2000

 

1. Sorted by Département:

 

Code

Département

Total

Male

Female

4

Alpes Haute Provence

1

1

 

6

Alpes Maritimes

3

3

 

9

Ariège

1

1

 

11

Aude

2

1

1

13

Bouches du Rhône

4

2

2

14

Calvados

1

1

 

18

Cher

2

1

1

24

Dordogne

1

 

1

26

Drôme

1

 

1

27

Eure

1

 

1

30

Gard

1

 

1

31

Haute Garonne

6

3

3

33

Gironde

2

2

 

34

Hérault

6

4

2

37

Indre et Loir

1

 

1

38

Isère

3

2

1

40

Landes

1

1

 

44

Loire Atlantique

3

2

1

46

Lot

1

1

 

47

Lot et Garonne

1

 

1

48

Lozère

2

1

1

50

Manche

2

2

 

57

Moselle

3

3

 

58

Nièvre

1

1

 

60

Oise

1

1

 

66

Pyrénées Orientales

22

15

7

75

Paris

10

8

2

77

Seine et Marne

1

 

1

82

Tarn et Garonne

1

 

1

83

Var

8

6

2

91

Essonne

1

1

 

92

Hauts de Seine

1

1

 

94

Val de Marne

2

1

1

 

Total

97

65

32

 

Comments: There are more than 97 Marills currently living in France. The phone directory doesn’t cover the children, people using only with cellular phones, people who are on the “red list” i.e. don’t want their name to appear in the phone directory or have two residences.

 

Consequently, one can reasonably estimate that 110 to 120 Marills are living these days in France.  

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