Genealogy in Aube (10): trace your ancestors

Genealogy cheat sheet - Links to archives, civil status, records, old maps, books and sites about the department's history

©️Wikimedia - Claude Villetaneuse

updated: February 23, 2026

Aube is a French department located in the Grand Est region. Its prefecture is Troyes, famous for its historic center shaped like a Champagne cork and its half-timbered houses. The department is bordered by the departments of MarneMarne, of the Haute-Marne, of the Côte-d'Or, of the 'Yonne and of the Seine-et-Marne.

Created during the French Revolution in 1790, the department was primarily formed from the southern part of the former province of Champagne. The history of Aube is inseparable from that of the Counts of Champagne, the medieval fairs of Troyes, and the spiritual influence of the Abbey of Clairvaux, founded by Saint Bernard.

The department is distinguished by its varied geography, between the "Chalky Champagne" in the north and the "Wet Champagne" in the south, famous for its large lakes and dense forests.

📜 Archives of Aube

Departmental Archives of Aube

Visit the Departmental Archives of Aube:

🏢 131 rue Etienne Pedron, 10000 Troyes

Contact the Departmental Archives of Aube:

📞 03 25 42 52 62

📧 Send an email

Browse the digitized archives to search for your ancestors:

• Parish registers and civil status of the communes of Aube
• Name-based search in the parish registers and civil status of Troyes
• Census records
• Military records
• Prison registers
• Hospital records
• Matrimonial court records
• Records of itinerant trades
• Chandon file
• Napoleonic cadastre
• Mortgage records
• Inheritance tables
• Religious archives
• Civil archives
• Hospital archives
• Personalities, companies... They shaped Aube
• 1814-1945... Aube in the war
• Postcards and photographs
• Posters
• Drawings, stained glass, engravings, and movable objects
• Coluel Plan - Troyes in 1769
• Old local press

Online records

• On FranceGenWeb: «Miscellaneous records» - Marriages - Marriages of migrants - Marriages of migrants from Aube - Notaries - Protestants
• Aube Archive
• Record transcriptions in Saint-Aubin and Saint-Martin-la-Fosse

Unusual records

• Accident at the mill, grand baptism, triple drowning, and others on the J. Marchal's site.
• Unusual testimony in the archives of Aube

Migrations in Aube

Aube has long been a hub of exchanges thanks to its fairs and communication routes. While the department experienced rural exodus to Paris, it also attracted many populations linked to its thriving textile industry.

• From the Middle Ages to the 18th century: during this period, migrations were primarily commercial. The Fairs of Champagne (in Troyes notably) attracted merchants from all over Europe: Flemish, Italians, and Germans. Although these stays were often temporary, some merchants settled and put down roots in the department.
  
  
• The 19th century: from the 1830s onwards, Troyes became the world capital of hosiery (knitwear and undergarments). This industrial boom curbed local rural exodus and attracted workers from neighboring departments, notably from Haute-Marne and Yonne.
  
  Seasonal workers from Belgium and Eastern France also came for the harvests and vineyard work in the Côte des Bar.
  
  
• The 20th century: the 20th century was marked by migratory waves linked to conflicts and reconstruction: between 1914 and 1918, Aube hosted refugees from the occupied zones of the North and Marne.
  
  During the interwar period, to make up for the lack of labor in the textile industry and agriculture, Polish and Italian workers arrived in the department.
  
  After 1945, like the rest of France, Aube saw the arrival of populations from the Maghreb and Portugal, who came to work in the hosiery factories and the booming construction sector.

For more information:

• From assimilation to integration: immigrants in Champagne-Ardenne in the 19th and 20th centuries

🎞 Aube in pictures

Videos

• Relaxation at work – Musical breaks during the day – 1961
• In Troyes, the trial of the perpetrators of the Pont-sur-Seine attack – 1962
• Old quarters of Troyes – 1964
• Stop at Troyes Cathedral - 1967
• A department to know: Aube – 1970
• Fairground people – 1971
• Illuminations in Troyes – 1971
• Magazine D. - Animations in the quarters of Troyes - 1972
• The Templars at the National Archives (Aube) - 2012

Old images and postcards 

• On Gallica : theAube in pictures
• On Clochers de France : the belfries of Aube in pictures
• On Mémorial GenWeb : postcards of the war memorials 
• On CPArama : collection of postcards from Aube
• On communes.com : postcards of Nogent-sur-Aube
• Old postcards of Montiéramey

Old maps of the department 

• From Cassini's villages to today's communes: the department of theAube
• On Old Maps Online: old maps of the department

The history of the Aube

• History of the Aube department
• Memoirs of the Lycée of the Aube Department – 1801
• Statistical table of the Aube department- 1801
• 1814-1815. Invasion of foreign armies in the Aube department- 1833
• Administrative and artistic directory of the Aube department– 1837
• Paleographic trip in the Aube department, report - 1855
• Talk on the flora of the Aube: at the session of October 28, 1877 of the Horticultural, Viticultural and Forestry Society of the Aube– 1877
• Forest plantations in the Aube department - 1878
• A riddle inscription from 1546, at Sainte-Maure- 1908
• Hosiery in Troyes and the Aube department– 1935
• The churches of the Aube in danger - 1955
• The sculpted Virgins of pity from the 15th and 16th centuries in the Aube department– 1962
• The Journal of the Aube and the difficulties of the recruitment of 300,000 men– 1998

On Gallica: the books, the press and the manuscripts to learn everything about the Aube department

🏠 The 50 most common surnames in Aube

Top 10 surnames in Aube: 

• MARTIN
• PETIT
• ROYER
• LAURENT
• THOMAS
• SIMON
• ROBERT
• GERARD
• GARNIER
• ROBIN

The other 40 most popular surnames in the department (according to the INSEE File) : 

• FRANCOIS
• GAUTHIER
• BERNARD
• MICHEL
• RICHARD
• FEVRE
• MASSON
• GUYOT
• CLEMENT
• BOURGEOIS
• COLLIN
• VINCENT
• BERTRAND
• MILLET
• LAMBERT
• HENRY
• NOEL
• ROY
• BARBIER
• MOREAU
• PARISOT
• COLLOT
• DUBOIS
• CARRE
• MATHIEU
• LEGRAND
• GUILLAUME
• PICARD
• ADAM
• BERTHIER
• REMY
• PARIS
• ROUSSEAU
• DURAND
• COLSON
• FOURNIER
• COLIN
• MARCHAND
• MULLER
• PREVOST

🗺️ Genealogy sites in Aube

• Genealogy circles and associations in Aube
• Genealogical Center of Aube
• Aube-Archive

Genealogy blogs in Aube

• New Branches
• The cherry trees of Aube

Happy researching!

📩 Your ancestors are waiting for you on Geneafinder, start or import your genealogy tree now

🌳 Quick and free registration - learn more