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15 November 2006

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I always thought that my ancestors from my mother’s side were of Spanish descent. My Lolos looked mestizo and clavel is a Spanish word for carnation. But eversince I saw Sister Clavel as one of the characters in the French animated children’s show Madeline, I started to have doubts. After just a few mouse clicks, I confirmed that indeed our ancestors were French. Luckily, there is a Clevelle Genealogy egroup at Yahoogroups. Here’s the description of the group:

The Clavel family name first appeared in Dauphin in France. It’s ancestral roots trace back to French origins.

This group is dedicated to the research of the French surname Clevelle. Variant spellings currently include Clavel, Clavell, Clevel, & Clevell.

And we even have a coat of arms!

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3 Comments »

ABC said:

Tripped out, ‘cuz I started (& still own) this Yahoo! group. Just Googled Clevelle & this popped up. Interesting. Anyway. Just thought I’d confirm that Clevelle (Clavel, Clavell, whatever) is also French for carnation. The name also surfaces often in both Spanish & English genealogy. (Google “Clavel Tower” in England.) Anyway. Thanks for mentioning the group. Feel free to contact me if you want to find out whether or not you’re truly French.

# 15 February 2007 at 7:23 pm

gladita (author) said:

Thanks for dropping by. The only place in the Philippines that I know of where there are a lot of Clavel is in Oton, Iloilo and mostly from our barangay (village). That’s why if I do meet somebody here that is a Clavel I know that somehow we are related.

# 20 February 2007 at 5:26 pm

BERNARDINA CLAVEL said:

I’m curious of my roots too. My father was from Oton, Iloilo but I was born and eventually grew up in Davao—Herewith is an excerpt from brief history of municipality of Oton–In the early part of Phillippine revolution in 1896, the people of Oton led by Vicente Zurita and his braves: Eulogio Ronquillo, Eugenio Montalvo, Doroteo Camara, Vicente Supena, Ramon Mallorca, URBANO CLAVEL, and Puloy , the famous gunpowder maker, took up arms and were able to drive the Spaniards to Molo. ( a testament to our ancestor’s bravery).
In U.S. Census , Clavel clan migrated from Le Havre, France, a bustling fishing village in Normandy. Most of the Clavel families were U.S. were farmers and housekeepers back then. It might interest you to know,we also have a namesake among the Puerto Ricans, circa 1930’s . I googled a Leothiny Clavel who is a writer UP Cebu 1971 Alumni. I too have the propensity in writing — I studied comparative literature in UP Iloilo- for two years 1985-1987 but was unable to finish as I went back to Davao. I studied nursing at Davao Doctors College , been an editor for our schoolpaper, right now I’m here in Chicago. I think most of us are inherently writers at heart , if given the second chance , I’d love to write and teach—should you have the chance if you could touchbase with me Thanks–BERNI

# 21 March 2007 at 1:53 pm