This is a very rare surname. Recorded as Aimable, Laimable, and Amiable, it is French, and it is only in France that we have found any acceptable recordings. According to the Dictionnaire Etymologique de noms de famille de France, the development is from the word and surname Ami, meaning friend. This is recorded in many diminutive and patronymic forms including Amiot, Amyot, Amiel, Amiard, and Amiguet. However Aimable and Laimable whilst possibly deriving from Ami has a more distinctive meaning. It seems to have been a legal term which may suggest that the name could have been descriptive for a 'negotiator', perhaps one employed by the court and whose job was to find an 'amiable' solution to a problem. This however is conjecture as we have not been able to find any positive proof. Many, indeed the vast majority of early registers in France were deliberately destroyed during the famous Revolution of 1792 - 1796. At this time the church itself was exiled, and the insurgents regarded all records as tools of the secret police of the monarchy. As a result such early baptismal, marriage and death records as do exist tend to be erratic, and often found only in one area. In this case we have found examples such as Rigobert Laimable at Rimigy in the Ardennes, on August 31st 1760, and Andre Aimable and his wife the former Marie Renou who were witnesses at the baptism of their son also called Andre at Andard, Maine-et-Loire, on October 31st 1770.

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