Contents [hide]

Pettitt History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Historic Events Related Stories Citations

Pettitt 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 Pettitt 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 Pettitt 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 Pettitt family

The surname Pettitt 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 Pettitt family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pettitt 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 Pettitt History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pettitt 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 Pettitt 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 Pettitt Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pettitt Ranking

In the United States, the name Pettitt is the 11,653^rd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Pettitt migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Pettitt Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Thomas Pettitt, who arrived in New England in 1639 3
John Pettitt, who landed in South Carolina in 1676 3

Pettitt migration to Australia +

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

Pettitt Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Henry Pettitt, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Prince Regent" in 1839 4
Heather Pettitt, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Prince Regent" in 1839 4
Edwin W Pettitt, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Morley" in 1840 5
Mr. James Pettitt, English convict who was convicted in Lewes, Sussex, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Fairlie" on 9th Mary 1852, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Island) 6

Pettitt 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:

Pettitt Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century

Miss Ann Pettitt, (b. 1848), aged 18, British domestic servant travelling from London aboard the ship "John Temperley" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 21st June 1866 7
William Pettitt, aged 42, a plumber, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Queen of The Age" in 1874
Frances Pettitt, aged 40, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Queen of The Age" in 1874
Alice Pettitt, aged 12, who arrived in Auckland, New Zealand aboard the ship "Queen of The Age" in 1874

Contemporary Notables of the name Pettitt (post 1700) +

Tom Pettitt (b. 1859), English-born, American tennis world champion from 1885 to 1890, inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1982
Peggy Pettitt (b. 1950), American actress, dancer, teacher, playwright and storyteller
Louise Pettitt (1918-2006), born Florence Louise Staples, one of the first American female opera conductors
Henry Alfred Pettitt (1848-1893), British actor and dramatist from Smethwick, near Birmingham, son of Edwin Pettitt, a civil engineer, and author
Ellen Pettitt (b. 1986), Australian high jumper at the 2003 World Youth Championships and at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
John Alexander Pettitt (1910-1977), Australian politician, Member of the Australian Parliament for Hume (1963-1972)
Dave Pettitt (b. 1972), Canadian voice actor in commercials and on television

Historic Events for the Pettitt family +

North Sea Flood

Raymond Edwin Pettitt, British citizen, living in Fellixstowe, England,killed in the North Sea Flood, a major storm surge in 1953
Sheila Beatrice Pettitt, British citizen, living in Fellixstowe, England,killed in the North Sea Flood, a major storm surge in 1953
Brian Pettitt, British citizen, living in Fellixstowe, England,killed in the North Sea Flood, a major storm surge in 1953
Gillian Pettitt, British citizen, living in Fellixstowe, England,killed in the North Sea Flood, a major storm surge in 1953

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)
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) PRINCE REGENT 1839. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1839PrinceRegent.htm
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) MORLEY 1840. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1840Morley.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 26th September 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/fairlie
New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html