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

Pettiway, 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 Pettiway surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Pettiway in America

Pettiway is the 67747th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Pettiway surname appeared 291 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 Pettiway.

We can also compare 2010 data for Pettiway 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 Pettiway

The surname PETTIWAY originated in England during the late medieval period, likely derived from a combination of the Old English words "petit" meaning small or petite, and "weg" meaning path or way. This suggests the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a small path or road.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname dates back to the 13th century, found in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire from 1273, which mentions a Richard Pettiweye. The name also appears in various other medieval records, including the Court Rolls of the Manor of Wakefield in Yorkshire from the 14th century.

In the 16th century, the PETTIWAY surname can be found in the parish records of several English counties, such as Gloucestershire and Somerset, with variations in spelling like "Petteway" and "Pettyway". One notable individual from this time period was John Pettiway, born in 1565 in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire.

During the 17th century, the name continued to be documented in various parts of England, with records showing individuals bearing the surname in counties like Worcestershire and Wiltshire. One example is Thomas Pettiway, who was born in 1624 in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, and later became a prominent merchant in Bristol.

As the British Empire expanded, some PETTIWAYs emigrated to other parts of the world, such as North America and the Caribbean. One early settler was William Pettiway, who arrived in Virginia from England in 1635 and established a plantation in the colony.

Other notable individuals with the PETTIWAY surname include Robert Pettiway, a 19th-century English author and poet born in 1812 in Gloucestershire, and Sarah Pettiway, a philanthropist and activist from Bristol who lived from 1845 to 1923 and worked to improve the lives of women and children.

While the PETTIWAY surname may not be among the most common in the English-speaking world, it has a rich history that can be traced back to medieval England and the original meaning of a small path or way.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Pettiway

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

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

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

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