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Surname

The Merlet Family

Merlet is the original form of the family name, carried from Roucy in Champagne, France, by the Huguenot Gedeon Merlet, who reached New Amsterdam in 1663. Nearly every Malott, Mellott, Marlatt and Marlett in America descends from him.

Other family names: Malott · Mellott · Marlatt · Marlett

Where the Merlet name comes from

The earliest records at Roucy spell the name Merle or Marle. The French ending -et, meaning “little,” gave Merlet or Merlette. In the records of Leiden, Mannheim and New Amsterdam, Gedeon appears as Merlet, Merlette, Merleth, Marlet and more. See The Life of Gedeon Merlet.

Line of descent

The family in France:

  1. Merle c. 1549–c. 1603 — earliest known ancestor
  2. Josias Marle or Merle 1600–1655 — of Roucy, Champagne
  3. Gedeon (Gideon) La Plante Merlet c. 1624–1684 — Huguenot immigrant; reached New Amsterdam in February 1663

Where they lived

Places recorded for people named Merlet on this site, with the number of people who were born, married, lived or died in each:

  • Netherlands5
  • France3
  • New Jersey2
  • New York1
  • Germany1

Family stories

What DNA shows

DNA testing places the family’s paternal line in haplogroup G2a, whose ancestors reached Europe from Anatolia with the first farmers. See The Marlatt-Merlet DNA Project.

Questions people ask

Is Merlet the same family as Malott, Mellott, Marlatt and Marlett?

Yes. Merlet is the original French form; the other spellings developed in America after Gedeon Merlet’s arrival in 1663.

Where in France did the Merlets come from?

Roucy, in the Champagne region. See The Huguenots: Why Our Family Left France.

Everyone named Merlet on this site

11 people, oldest first. Spellings included: Merlet (7), Merle (3), Merlette (1). Living people are not shown.