Pleasant History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The Pleasant surname comes the medieval (Old French) name Plaisance which meant "pleasant."

Early Origins of the Pleasant family

The surname Pleasant was first found in Suffolk where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. The Saxon influence of English history diminished after the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The language of the courts was French for the next three centuries and the Norman ambience prevailed. But Saxon surnames survived and the family name was first referenced in the 13th century when they held estates in that county.

Early History of the Pleasant family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pleasant research. Another 129 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1455, 1487, 1510, 1560 and 1600 are included under the topic Early Pleasant History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pleasant Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Pleasance, Pleesance, Pleasant, Pleasants, Plessant, Plesant, Plessance, Plessence, Plesance, Plessants, Plaisance, Plaisants, Plaissance and many more.

Early Notables of the Pleasant family

More information is included under the topic Early Pleasant Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pleasant Ranking

In the United States, the name Pleasant is the 4,122^nd most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 1

Pleasant migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Pleasant Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Pleasant, who settled in Virginia in 1737

Pleasant Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

H. Pleasant, who was on record in San Francisco in 1851
H Pleasant, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1851 2

Contemporary Notables of the name Pleasant (post 1700) +

Mary Ellen Pleasant (1814-1817), American entrepreneur and abolitionist; she worked on the Underground Railroad across many states, a friend and financial supporter of John Brown
Reginald Lecarno Pleasant (b. 1962), American former professional NFL and CFL football defensive back who played from 1985 to 1997
Franklin Pierce Mount "Frank" Pleasant Jr. (1884-1937), American football player, track and field athlete, and coach of football, basketball, and baseball, posthumously inducted into the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame (1973)
Anthony Devon Pleasant (b. 1968), American football defensive line coach
Ruffin Golson Pleasant (1871-1937), American politician, 36th Governor of Louisiana from 1916–1920
Henry Clay Pleasant (1833-1880), coal mining engineer and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War
James Pleasant Jr. (1769-1836), American politician
Julian Pleasant Bretz (1876-1951), American Democratic Party politician, Chair of Tompkins County Democratic Party, 1936; Member of New York Democratic State Committee, 1942 3
Kate Pleasant Minor, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Virginia, 1924 4
Robert Pleasant Trippe (1819-1900), American politician, Member of Georgia State Legislature, 1849-53; U.S. Representative from Georgia 3rd District, 1855-59; Member of Georgia State Senate, 1858-59 5

Citations +

"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)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 25) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 26) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 9) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html