The Huguenin-Benjamin branch take their name from Benjamin Huguenin, who lived in La Brévine and was born about 1650. Benjamin was an unusual name at this time, which is why it was used to identify his descendants. Benjamin’s exact link to the main Huguenin tree is unknown at present.
The origin of the Huguenin-Bergenat branch is unclear: the earliest reference we have found is to Abram Huguenin-Bergenat, who died between 1719 and 1735.
The Huguenin des Bois family are the descendants of a David Huguenin, who died before 1712. The compound name was only used for a few generations and then abandoned. The name literally means “Huguenin of the woods”, and may refer to the family home However, there is a village called Les Bois in the neighbouring canton of Jura, which is another possible source.
The Huguenin-Bosson branch are the descendants of an Abraham Huguenin of Le Locle, who died before 1746. The name is no longer used today.
Some of the descendants of Jacob Huguenin, a counsellor and lieutenant of militia who died before 1724, used the name Huguenin-Dezot or Huguenin-Desot. Use of the name was unsystematic, and has now been abandoned. Brothers Fritz-Aimé and Zélim-Albert, founders of the company Huguenin Médailleurs, belong to this branch.
Petitjehan Huguenin, settled in La Chaux-du-Milieu (then known as La Chaux du Moiten or Mitten) in the early 1500’s and the descendants of several of his sons therefore became known as Huguenin-Dumittan. This line goes back to the earliest known Huguenin a century earlier. A descendant of this branch, Marie-Elisabeth de Flavigny, became Franz Liszt’s mistress, and their daughter Cosima married Richard Wagner.
Petitjehan Huguenin’s son Blaise Huguenin-Dumittan had a large family, including a son named Elie (born before 1585), whose descendants adopted their ancestor’s unusual name to become the Huguenin-Elie line. (Elie is the French version of Elijah.)
The Huguenin d’Hotaux branch are descendants of Jehan Huguenin (born before 1443), who is the ancestor of two Huguenin branches. (“Hotau” in local patois means “house”.) Jehan and his brother Vuillemin are the earliest known Huguenins.
Abram Huguenin, a local magistrate born in the early 1700’s, married a woman of Swiss German origin named Marie Judith Lardi. She died young after giving birth to twins, but her name lived on, because the descendants of her husband by his second wife became known as Huguenin-Lardy. As the origins of the name were forgotten, it was often written Huguenin l’Hardi, as if the branch took its name from a “Huguenin the Bold”!
The Huguenin-Lenoir branch are the descendants of Guillaume Huguenin (born before 1552), and their name probably refers to a physical characteristic of their ancestor, as the name literally means “Black Huguenin”. This line goes back to the earliest known Huguenin living in the Le Locle area in the early 1400’s.
We have come across a few entries in parish registers referring to the Huguenin-Junet family at La Chaux-de-Fonds, but have so far been unable to attach them to the main Huguenin tree.
Joseph Matthey and his wife, Susanne Huguenin (b. about. 1708) named one of their sons Esaïe-Huguenin Matthey – note the position of the hyphen! This proved so confusing that his descendants were mistakenly recorded under the name Huguenin-Matthey.
The Huguenin-Richard branch are the descendants of Richard Huguenin (born before 1552) and his wife, Octhenet Matthey-Junod. The name Richard was sufficiently unusual at the time to be used to identify this line. Richard was a son of Petitjehan Huguenin (ancestor of several Huguenin branches), and his line goes back to Vuillemin Huguenin, (born before 1443), joint ancestor of the Huguenin tree.
The book of heraldry “Armoiries Neuchâteloises” gives a crest for the Huguenin-dit-Sage branch, but we have no information concerning this line at present.
The Huguenin-Tenet branch is another whose members take their suffix from the name of their ancestor, Antoine Huguenin, who died before 1662. (‘Tenet” or “Tainoté” was a diminutive form of Antoine in local patois.) Author and artist Oscar Huguenin (1842-1903) belongs to this branch of the family, and the line goes back to Vuillemin Huguenin (born before 1443), joint ancestor of the Huguenin tree.
Jaques Huguenin (born before 1553), bought land just outside Le Locle from a man called Janthot Virchaulx, and Jaques' own descendants became known as Huguenin-Virchaux. This is our own branch of the family. Artist Fritz-Edouard Huguenin-Lassauguette (1842-1926) also belongs to the Huguenin-Virchaux branch. The Huguenin-Virchaux branch became so numerous that some of the descendants of Jonathan Huguenin-Virchaux (1689-1765) are referred to in local parish registers as Huguenin-Jonathan or Huguenin-Virchaux-dit-Jonathan, although this variant was subsequently abandoned. The line goes back to Vuillemin Huguenin (born before 1443), joint ancestor of the Huguenin tree.
The Huguenin-Vuillemenet branch have been traced back to David Huguenin dit Vuillemenet, who died before 1745. They probably take their name from a Vuillemin Huguenin, as “Vuillemenet” is a diminutive form of Vuillemin. This line seems to have lived around La Brévine.
The Huguenin-Vuillemin branch are the descendants of Vuillemin Huguenin (born before 1552), and their line goes back to another Vuillemin Huguenin (born before 1443), joint ancestor of the Huguenin tree. Authoress Adèle Huguenin-Vuillemin (1856-1933), who wrote under the pseudonym of “T. Combe”, is the best-known member of this family.
The Jeanhuguenin family are descendants of Jehan Huguenin (born before 1443), joint ancestor of the Huguenin tree. (“Jehan” is the old form of “Jean”.) | 
