Show ContentsPittenger History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Pittenger family

The surname Pittenger was first found in Aberdeenshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Obar Dheathain), a historic county, and present day Council Area of Aberdeen, located in the Grampian region of northeastern Scotland, where they held a family seat. However, This ancient Clan, known as Pittendreich of that Ilk, conjecturally was most likely to be from Moravia, and came to Scotland in the train of Queen Margeret, second wife (1069) of King Canmore.

Queen Margeret, herself a royal refugee, was a learned churchwoman. She was appalled by the barbaric state of the Royal Scottish court. She recruited many European nobles, mostly Norman, but traveled as far east as Silesia and Moravia. Among them was Malcolm de Moravia who invited John of Pethindreich to witness a charter passing the lands of Lamebryde to his son William de Moray in 1278.

It was customary to invite relations or "friendly" important witnesses, men and women of stature, to affix their seals and names to such transactions, thus it is likely that John of Pethindreich was either a relative, or a very close friend and Chief of his Clan. Since Malcolm of Moravia was still carrying the territorial name his ancestors acquired in 1070 it must be assumed he was a large landowner who chose not to identify with a single property, i.e. Lambryde and possibly that also of the original Pittendreich.

Early History of the Pittenger family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pittenger research. Another 134 words (10 lines of text) covering the years 1400, 1410, 1478, 1572, 1578, 1600 and 1678 are included under the topic Early Pittenger History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pittenger Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Pittendreigh, Pittendrich, Pittendrigh, Petyndricht, Pettindrecht, Petindrech, Peddendreycht, Pithendreich and many more.

Early Notables of the Pittenger family

Another 28 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Pittenger Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pittenger Ranking

In the United States, the name Pittenger is the 12,981st most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. [1]


United States Pittenger migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Pittenger Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Peter Pittenger, who settled in Ohio in 1815
  • Benjamin Pittenger, who settled in Washington sometime between 1859 and 1920
  • John Pittenger, who settled in Ohio in 1873

Contemporary Notables of the name Pittenger (post 1700) +

  • William Pittenger (1840-1904), Union Army soldier during the American Civil War, recipient of the 5th Medal of Honor for his service during the Great Locomotive Chase
  • William Alvin Pittenger (1885-1951), United States Representative from Minnesota
  • John C. Pittenger (1930-2009), American lawyer, academic and former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
  • Robert Pittenger (b. 1948), American politician
  • Clarke Alonzo "Pinky" Pittenger (1899-1977), American Major League Baseball player
  • William Alvin Pittenger (1885-1951), American Republican politician, Member of Minnesota State House of Representatives 58th District, 1917-20 [2]
  • Philip O. Pittenger (1929-1992), American politician, Member of Michigan State House of Representatives 58th District, 1967-70; Member of Michigan State Senate 24th District, 1971-74; Defeated (Republican), 1974 [2]
  • Lela Pittenger, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from Texas, 2008 [2]
  • Karen Pittenger, American Democratic Party politician, Member, Rules Committee, Democratic National Convention, 2008 [2]
  • James S. Pittenger, American politician, Secretary of State of Nebraska, 1951-53 [2]
  • ... (Another 1 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 21) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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