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

Pettas, 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 Pettas surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pettas in America

Pettas is the 115034th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pettas surname appeared 152 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Pettas.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pettas 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 Pettas

The surname Pettas has its origins in Greece, with the earliest recorded instances dating back to the 14th century. It is believed to have derived from the Greek word "petros," meaning "stone" or "rock," potentially indicating that the name's earliest bearers lived near or worked with stone or rocky terrain.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with this surname was Ioannis Pettas, a Greek Orthodox monk who lived in the late 14th century on the island of Crete. His name is mentioned in several monastic records from that time period, indicating the surname's presence in the region.

During the 15th century, the Pettas surname appeared in various historical documents from the Byzantine Empire, particularly in regions such as Thessaloniki and the Peloponnese peninsula. This suggests that the name was well-established throughout Greece by that time.

In the 16th century, a notable figure with the surname Pettas was Georgios Pettas, a Greek merchant and ship owner from the island of Chios. He played a significant role in the maritime trade between Greece and other Mediterranean ports during that era.

The 17th century saw the emergence of Petros Pettas, a Greek scholar and philosopher who lived from 1610 to 1685. He studied at the prestigious University of Padua in Italy and later taught at various educational institutions in Greece, contributing to the intellectual discourse of his time.

In more recent history, Konstantinos Pettas (1892-1979) was a prominent Greek politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Greece in the late 1940s, playing a crucial role in Greece's foreign policy during the post-World War II era.

Throughout its history, the Pettas surname has maintained a strong presence in Greece, with various branches and families bearing this name across different regions of the country. While it may not be among the most common Greek surnames, it has left an indelible mark on the nation's history and culture.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pettas

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

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 Pettas 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 Pettas 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 Pettas was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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