Follow
This project is for researching and sharing information on the Lemire / le Mire / LaMere family name.
Most people in North America with this name are descendants of Jean Lemire who immigrated from France to Canada around 1650.
The standard spelling in records was either "Lemire" or "le Mire" from the earliest days in North America, with only a few variant spellings along the way (going back to Jean Lemire, who immigrated around 1650 from France to Canada).
It was apparently Americanized to LaMere in some of the branches of the family, such as when François Xavier Lemire moved from Canada to Wisconsin. His son Francis is sometimes written in records as Lemire and sometimes LaMere. Francis's son Wilfred is written everywhere as LaMere.
Some have speculated that LeMire originally meant "the doctor" since Mire was an Old French word for doctor. Another source claims, "The first bearers of the name Lemire would come from the Miray region in France. We also find the name Lemire sometimes written Lemiray, Miray or Miré (Mire). Andrée-Anne Lemyre" (Google Translation from French: https://www.letincelle.qc.ca/actualites/chroniques/289510/genealogi...)
There are several genealogy sites that show records of Jean Lemire's parents and grandparents. However, it's unclear what original records these sites based this information on. The spelling of the last name of Jean's parents and grandparents varies on these sites (more research is needed to determine if these are transcription errors or if they reflect the original records' spelling): Lenouair, Lemaire, Le Nere, etc.
It's likely that the name was around for a while before the earliest written records, which means we may never know what the original form was or what it originally meant. In the 1500s and early 1600s, last names were still a relatively new development and spelling of all words (names or not) was much more fluid and not standardized. So it's not surprising to see a lot of variation in that time period. It is common to see changes between similar sounds like M and N.
Variations on spelling
https://www.geni.com/surnames/lemire
https://www.geni.com/surnames/lamere
https://www.geni.com/surnames/lamire
https://www.geni.com/surnames/lemaire
https://www.geni.com/surnames/lemyre
Resources
Association of the Lemire Families of America inc.
http://www.genealogie.org/famille/lemire/anglais/index.html