History

The name 'Lestrange' echoes the French phrase l'étrange, literally "the strange one", refering to Bellatrix's mental disability. In Old French, estrange means "foreigner". The surname may allude to English journalist Roger L'Estrange, who was known for opposing religious toleration and for being involved in plots against the government of William and Mary, similar to the Lestranges' intolerance about blood purity and involvement in the Death Eaters organisation.

Lestrange is the surname of an ancient pure-blood wizarding family, and one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. They are related to the Black, Malfoy, Tonks, Lupin, and Rosier families. Bellatrix Black married into the family only because it was expected of her to make a respectable pure-blood marriage.

The Lestranges are a very old and wealthy family, with a vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank full of treasure. Like the Black family, many Lestranges practice the Dark Arts and believe in the notion of pure-blood supremacy, disdaining Muggles and Muggle-borns.

During the First and Second Wizarding Wars, they supported Lord Voldemort and at least a few members of the family were Death Eaters. Voldemort named Bellatrix, Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange as among his most loyal followers, as they were the only Death Eaters who tried to find him after his defeat in 1981 and spent fourteen years in Azkaban because of their loyalty. Bellatrix, in particular, described herself as "the Dark Lord's most loyal servant.