Americanized form of French de Garmeaux, said to be from a place called Garmeaux in Normandy.

The name was established during the 17th century in the Dutch settlement that later became Albany, NY. Pierre Villeroy (1641–1739) had ten children, the first four of whom, born during the 1680s, were baptized as Villeroy, but later all members of the family came to be known as Degarmeaux.