Find out how popular the last name Cavitt is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Cavitt.

Cavitt, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Cavitt surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cavitt in America

Cavitt is the 15579th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cavitt surname appeared 1,877 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Cavitt.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cavitt to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Cavitt

The surname Cavitt is derived from the medieval French word "cavite," which means "cavity" or "hollow." It is believed to have originated in France during the Middle Ages, possibly as an occupational name for someone who lived in a cave or a hollowed-out place, or as a descriptive name for someone who had a distinctive hollow in their facial features.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cavitt can be found in the Livre des Bourgeois de Rouen, a 14th-century manuscript that lists the names of citizens in the city of Rouen, Normandy. The spelling used in this document is "Cavité."

In England, the name appears to have been introduced by French settlers after the Norman Conquest in 1066. The earliest known English bearer of the name is William Cavit, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1195.

The name Cavitt has also been associated with various place names throughout history. For instance, the village of Cavitten in Wiltshire, England, is said to have derived its name from the Old English words "cæf" (hollow) and "tun" (town or settlement), indicating a possible connection to the surname's origins.

Notable individuals with the surname Cavitt include:

1. John Cavitt (c. 1580 - 1647), an English soldier and Member of Parliament during the English Civil War.
2. Elizabeth Cavitt (1623 - 1698), an early settler in colonial Virginia and one of the first English women to give birth in the Jamestown settlement.
3. Thomas Cavitt (1670 - 1738), a British merchant and landowner who established a successful trading company in the West Indies.
4. Sarah Cavitt (1785 - 1860), an American pioneer and one of the first settlers in the Oregon Territory.
5. William Cavitt (1810 - 1892), a Scottish-born American industrialist who founded the Cavitt Ironworks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

While the surname Cavitt is not particularly common today, its origins can be traced back to medieval France and its subsequent spread across Europe and North America, where it has been borne by individuals from various walks of life throughout history.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cavitt

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Cavitt.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Cavitt was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Cavitt has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Cavitt was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Cavitt, please contact us.

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