Larcier

Recorded as Larcer, Larcier, Larciere, Larcher, Larchez, Larchier, Larchiere, and possibly others, this is a surname of French origins. It has two possible origins. It can either be occupational and of medieval origins, and would have described an archer or perhaps a hunter, or more likely a maker of bows for archery, or secondly it could have been residential and describe a person who lived by an arch, possibly a Roman arch, or more likely the gate of a town or city. Occupational surnames were amongst the first to created, but they usually only became hereditary, if a son or possibly a grandson, followed the father into the same line of business. Unfortunately the major of early French recordings were destroyed during the famous Revolution of 1792, when the church itself was totally banned until restored by Napoleon in 1802. However we have been in luck with this name and early examples include: Josepher Larchiere and his wife Francoise at Malaincourt, Vosges, on February 13th 1704, and Jean Marie Deschamps Larciere, at Givet, in the Ardennes, on December 10th 1823.