Landry

Landry may refer to:
* Landry is a French town in the Savoie "département"
* Geoffroy IV de la Tour Landry (ca.1320-1391) was a French nobleman who compiled "Livre pour l'enseignement de ses filles".
* Thomas Wade Landry (1924-2000) was an American football player and coach.
* Ali Landry (1973- ) is an American actress and model.
* Dan Landry, (1970- ) is an American volleyball playerList fact|date=May 2008
*St. Landry, Bishop of Seez
*St. Landry, Bishop of Paris
*Landry of MetzList fact|date=May 2008
*St. Landry Parish
* Landry's Restaurants is an American corporation that develops restaurants and hospitality projects from Houston, most well known as the operator for the Landry's Seafood House, Saltgrass Steakhouse, and Rainforest Cafe chains.
* Landry is a fictional little boy raccoon born on December 8, 1999 created by the Japanese toy company, Sanrio.
*Bernard Landry, former Premier of Quebec.

The surname Landry, considered to be the second oldest name in FranceFact|date=June 2008, is a name steeped in history, religion,and culture. Numbering among its members no less than three saints, the name has also lent its name to towns in France, Canada, and the United States.

It was not until the early Middle Ages that surnames were introduced to distinguish between numbers of people bearing the same personal or Christian name. With the growth in population, and in documentation necessitated by the expanding administrative machinery of medieval rulers, surnames became essential. Generally, these names fall into four categories:

*Location
*Patronymic
*Occupational
*Nickname origin

The French family name Landry falls into several categories. It is of patronymic origin, belonging to that category of names derived from the first name of the father or ancestor. In this case, the name simply denotes "the son of Landry", a popular personal name during the medieval period, early forms of which included Landri, and the regional variant Landry.Fact|date=June 2008 Today in France, the name is also found in the forms of Landrin and LandronFact|date=June 2008. The name is in fact, of ultimate Germanic origin, being derived from the old baptismal name "Land-rick", a composite name which signifies, literally, "land/country-powerful".

Different spellings of the same original surname are a common occurrence. Dictionaries of surnames indicate probable spelling variations of Landry to be:Fact|date=June 2008

*L'andre
*Landre
*Landri
*Landro
*Landrey
*Lendry
*Lynderey

It appears, however, that it is not known for certainy when the name was first recorded.

Although Landry is a common name in France, it is not found throughout France. Rather it seems to have been concentrated around three small villages, south of the town of Loudon, province of Poitou:

*LaChausee
*Martaize
*Aulnay

"I am given to understand that the Landry name is well known in the area around Loudun in Poitou, but is rather hard to find elsewhere in France."

Professor Stephen A. White, Genealogist at the Universite De Moncton in New Brunswick. N. Bujold and M. Caillebeau, Les origines francaises des premieres familles acadiennes:le sud Loundais (Poitiers:Imprimeirie L'Union, 1979) p.32