Terrebonne

Terrebonne is a city in Quebec, the county seat of the Les Moulins Regional County Municipality (MRC), in the Lanaudière region. It is part of Montreal's northern suburbs. Between 1986 and 2024, its population increased from 24,864 to 125,279, notably due to a merger with the towns of Lachenaie and La Plaine in 2001. In 2026, Terrebonne had a population of approximately 126,000. In 2014, Terrebonne was recognized as the tenth largest city in Quebec by population.

The name Terrebonne comes from the name of the seigneury of Terrebonne, which predated the city. There are three hypotheses to explain its origin:

- The first, accepted by the Commission de toponymie (Quebec's toponymy commission), suggests that Sieur Daulier Deslandes gave the name because of the fertile land in that area. The problem with this hypothesis is that Deslandes never set foot in America and therefore could not have known if the land was fertile, especially since the seigneury was not yet settled at that time.

A second theory, sometimes put forward by tourist guides on Île des Moulins, suggests that the name was chosen for "advertising" purposes, with settlers attracted to a place whose name implies fertile land. This technique would be similar to that of Erik the Red, who supposedly named Greenland (Greenland, meaning "Green Country") to encourage settlers to establish themselves there.

A third theory points out that, in his land grant, the seigneury is spelled "Terbonne." At that time, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, a famous French traveler with whom Deslandes had traveled, eventually became Baron d'Aubonne in Switzerland. This name sounds like "good water," although etymologically it derives from the name of the Aubonne River, which comes from the Celtic word *albona*, meaning "white river" (alba "white" and ona "river"). It was likely to imitate his friend Tavernier and his barony with its unusual spelling that the name Terbonne was chosen, while replacing the element of water with that of land, thus creating the antithesis of the barony of Aubonne.

There are several Terrebonnes in the United States, including Terrebonne in Louisiana, whereas the use of this type of toponym is limited to the microtoponymy of southern France (Occitan *tèrra bona* "good land"), which suggests either a transfer or a French creation in America intended to attract settlers.

The Rivière des Mille Îles, flowing eastward, forms the southern boundary of the municipality until its confluence with the Rivière des Prairies in the southeast. The Rivière Mascouche flows through the centre of the municipality from west to east, then through the southeast from north to south until its confluence with the Rivière des Mille Îles. The Rivière Saint-Pierre flows through the northern part of the municipality from west to east.