It is thought that the Greenleaf family’s origins were in St. Malo, France where their surname was Feuillevert. They were among the Huguenot families who fled France in the sixteenth century to avoid religious persecution. They escaped to England where the name Feuillevert has been found in Ipswich in the County of Suffolk. The French word "feuille" means leaf, and the French word "vert" means green. Literally translated into English the surname Feuillevert means Greenleaf.As early as 1635 members of the Greenleaf family immigrated to North American and settled in the Massachusetts colony. Historical records show that individuals bearing the Greenleaf surname continued to move westward and were living in the Natchez District as early as 1797, and had a presence in the Louisiana Territory by at least 1850. The Greenleaf family, their descendants, and collateral relatives have been a part of the growth and development of Southwest Louisiana since that time.