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Pettit History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia New Zealand

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Pettit History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
France

From the historical and enchanting region of France emerged a multitude of noble families, including the distinguished Pettit family. Originally, the French people were known only by a single name. The process by which hereditary surnames were adopted in France is extremely interesting. Surnames evolved during the Middle Ages when people began to assume an extra name to avoid confusion and to further identify themselves. Often they adopted names that were derived from nicknames. Nickname surnames were derived from an eke-name, or added name. They usually reflected the physical characteristics or attributes of the first person that used the name. The name Pettit is a nickname type of surname for a person of small stature, having derived from the Old French word "petit," meaning, "small" or "little". 1

Early Origins of the Pettit family

The surname Pettit was first found in Burgundy (French: Bourgogne), an administrative and historical region of east-central France where this distinguished family held a family seat at Bressey, where Antoine Petit was a knight of arms in the year 1353. They were also seated at Lavaux. They were strongly associated with the region of Champagne on the northern border of Bourgogne in eastern France. The first record in Bourgogne is at the seigneurie of Villiers-Sur-Suize where they held a family seat several centuries before the 15th century. In the 15th century Guyot Petit was Lord of the manor of Chaumont and a Lieutenant in the government of Nogent. This main stem of the family eventually emerged as the Barons Mathault.

It should be mentioned at this point that due to the Norman Conquest, some of the family emigrated to England, but not all.The source Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae lists "Ralph, William, Bernard, Herbert Parvus or le Petit, Normandy 1180-95" 1 which means that the name concurrently developed in England and Normandy at the same time.

Early History of the Pettit family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pettit research. Another 97 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1360, 1411, 1550, 1598, 1617, 1665, 1674, 1677, 1685, 1687, 1688, 1720 and 1750 are included under the topic Early Pettit History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pettit Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Pettit, Petit, Petite, Petites, Pettitt, Petitt, Pessit, Du Pettit, Du Petitt, Du Petit, Le Petitt, Le Pettit and many more.

Early Notables of the Pettit family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Jean Petit (Jehan Petit, John Parvus) (c. 1360-1411), a French theologian and professor in the University of Paris, is known for his public defense of a political killing as tyrannicide; Pierre Petit (1598-1677), French mathematician; and Pierre Petit (1617-1687)...
Another 46 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Pettit Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pettit Ranking

In the United States, the name Pettit is the 1,783^rd most popular surname with an estimated 17,409 people with that name. 2

Pettit migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Pettit Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Anne Pettit, who settled in Salem, Massachusetts in 1630
Anne Pettit, who settled in Salem in 1630
Richard Pettit, who was on record in Virginia in 1636
Rich Pettit, who arrived in Virginia in 1636 3

Pettit Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Joshua Pettit, who landed in Virginia in 1701 3
Jonathan Pettit, who landed in Pennsylvania in 1759 3

Pettit Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John Pettit, who settled in Philadelphia in 1801
Patrick Pettit, aged 18, who landed in Virginia in 1812 3
Bernard Pettit, who landed in New York, NY in 1816 3
Thomas Pettit, who landed in New York in 1836 3
U S Pettit, who arrived in San Francisco, California in 1860 3
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Pettit migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Pettit Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

John Pettit, who arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1778
Mr. Charles Pettit U.E. who settled in Canada c. 1784 4
Mr. Daniel Pettit U.E. who settled in Canada c. 1784 4
Mr. John Charles Pettit U.E. who settled in Canada c. 1784 4
Mr. John Pettit U.E. who settled in Canada c. 1784 4
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Pettit Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century

Joseph Pettit, who arrived in Canada in 1836

Pettit migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Pettit Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. Robert Pettit, (b. 1786), aged 29, English convict who was convicted in Kent, England for life for stealing, transported aboard the "Fanny" on 25th August 1815, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 5
James Pettit, English convict from Kent, who was transported aboard the "Almorah" on April 1817, settling in New South Wales, Australia 6
Mr. James Pettit, English convict who was convicted in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Charles Kerr" on 6th June 1837, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
Frederick Pettit, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Katherine Stewart Forbes" in 1839 8
Mr. Thomas Pettit, English convict who was convicted in Northamptonshire, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Earl Grey" on 4th October 1842, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 9
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Pettit migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Pettit Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Charles Pettit, aged 26, a bricklayer, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Poictiers" in 1850
Mary Anne Pettit, aged 32, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Poictiers" in 1850
Mary Maze Pettit, aged 5, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Poictiers" in 1850
Carter Pettit, aged 2, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Poictiers" in 1850
George Pettit, aged 1, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Poictiers" in 1850

Contemporary Notables of the name Pettit (post 1700) +

George William Paul Pettit (1931-2020), American professional MLB baseball pitcher, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1951 and 1953
Jane Bradley Pettit (1918-2001), American philanthropist, daughter of Harry Lynde Bradley, co-founder of Allen-Bradley, she donated more than 250 million during her lifetime
William Thomas "Tom" Pettit (1931-1995), American journalist and NBC television news correspondent during the 1960s through to 1995
Robert Lee Pettit (1906-1941), American Naval Radioman First Class killed in action, posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, eponym of the USS Pettit (DE-253), an Edsall-class destroyer escort
Charles Pettit (1736-1806), American lawyer, merchant and politician; he served as a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Confederation Congress from 1785 to 1787
Albert W. Pettit (1930-1997), American politician, Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (1993-1997)
Robert Lee "Bob" Pettit Jr. (b. 1932), retired American professional NBA basketball player who played from 1954 to 1965
Donald Roy Pettit (b. 1955), American chemical engineer and a NASA astronaut with over 176 days in space 10
John Tanner Pettit, American consultant in information processing
John Pettit, American finance consultant
... (Another 6 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Historic Events for the Pettit family +

USS Arizona

Mr. Charles Ross Pettit, American Chief Radioman-Permanent from California, USA working aboard the ship "USS Arizona" when she sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7th December 1941, he died in the sinking 11

Citations +

The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 28th September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
State Library of Queensland. (Retrieved 2016, October 27) Almorah voyage to New South Wales, Australia in 1817 with 180 passengers. Retrieved from http://www.convictrecords.com.au/ships/almorah/1817
Convict Records of Australia. Retrieved 1st February 2021 from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/charles-kerr
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) KATHERINE STEWART FORBES 1837 arrived Holdfast Bay, near Adelaide, on October 17, 1837. . Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1837KatherineStewartForbes.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th August 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/earl-gray
NASA Astronauts Homepage. (Retrieved 2010, September 27) Donald Pettit. Retrieved from http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/pettit.html
Pearl Harbour: USS Arizona Casualties List Pearl Harbour December 7, 1941. (Retrieved 2018, July 31st). Retrieved from http://pearl-harbor.com/arizona/casualtylist.html