2000
#3,755
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,666
First available Census row
Per 100,000 3.21
Rare Last name
Pitt
Derived from a place name meaning "pit" or "hollow," likely referring to someone who lived near a pit or hollow.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 9,759 Americans carry the last name Pitt. That puts it at #4,052 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.85 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 35,122 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Pitt surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Pitt with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
9.8K
1 in 35,122
Census rank
#4,052
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
8.5K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 8,510 bearers of the surname Pitt in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.85 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 4052nd position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Pitt, the largest self-reported group is White at 63.1%. The next largest groups are Black (28.6%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Pitt
The surname Pitt has its origins in England, tracing back to the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Old English word "pytt," which means a pit or a hole in the ground. This suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a pit or worked as a pit digger.
During the Middle Ages, surnames were often derived from occupations, physical characteristics, or geographical locations. The name Pitt likely emerged as a descriptive surname, given to someone associated with a pit or a pit-like feature in the landscape.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Pitt can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of landowners and tenants commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Pitte" or "Pytt" in various entries, indicating its presence in different parts of England at that time.
In the 13th century, the surname Pitt appears in various historical records, such as the Hundred Rolls of 1273, where it is listed as "Pitte" and "Pytte." This suggests that the name had become more widespread and established as a hereditary surname by that point.
The name Pitt is also associated with several notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest known figures was William Pitt (c. 1275-1326), a Member of Parliament for Gloucester during the reign of Edward II. Another notable bearer of the name was William Pitt the Elder (1708-1778), a British statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768.
Perhaps the most famous individual with the surname Pitt was William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806), the son of William Pitt the Elder. He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1783 to 1801 and again from 1804 to 1806, leading Britain during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
Other notable historical figures with the surname Pitt include Thomas Pitt (1653-1726), an English merchant and founder of the Pitt Diamond, one of the largest and most famous diamonds in the world, and Dorothy Pitt (1598-1678), an English woman who was tried and acquitted of witchcraft during the infamous Salem Witch Trials in colonial Massachusetts.
The surname Pitt has also been associated with various place names throughout England, such as Pitt Town in Kent, Pitt Meadows in Surrey, and Pitt Park in Hampshire. These place names likely derived from the surname itself, reflecting the influence and presence of individuals bearing the name Pitt in those areas.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pitt
Among Census respondents with the surname Pitt, the largest self-reported group is White at 63.1%. The next largest groups are Black (28.6%) and Two or More Races (3.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Pitt bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Pitt surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.1% · 5,372
- Black or African American28.6% · 2,431
- Two or more races3.9% · 335
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 253
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 73
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 46
Timeline
Historical Census data for Pitt
Pitt appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#3,873
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 9,151
+485 bearers (+5.6%)
Per 100,000 3.10
Rank movement Down 118 places
2020
#4,052
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 8,510
-641 bearers (-7.0%)
Per 100,000 2.85
Rank movement Down 179 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #3,755 | 8,666 | 3.21 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #3,873 | 9,151 | 3.10 | +485 bearers (+5.6%) | Down 118 places |
| 2020 | #4,052 | 8,510 | 2.85 | -641 bearers (-7.0%) | Down 179 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Pitt surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #3,873 | #4,052 | -4.6% |
| Count | 9,151 | 8,510 | -7.0% |
| Per 100K | 3.10 | 2.85 | -8.2% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Pitt bearers went from 9,151 to 8,510 (-7.0% change). The surname moved down 179 positions in the national ranking, going from #3,873 to #4,052.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Pitt
FAQ
Pitt surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Pitt?
Name Census estimates that about 9,759 living Americans carry the surname Pitt. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 35,122 residents.
How common is Pitt?
Pitt ranks #4,052 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.85 per 100,000 residents, which is about 3 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 8,510 people with the surname Pitt. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (9,759), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.85 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.85 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 3 of them to have the surname Pitt.
Has Pitt become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Pitt went from 9,151 recorded bearers to 8,510. That is a decrease of 641 (-7.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #3,873 to #4,052.
What does the Census say about the background of Pitt?
Among Census respondents with the surname Pitt, the largest self-reported group is White at 63.1%. The next largest groups are Black (28.6%) and Two or More Races (3.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Pitt in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.1% (5,372 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Pitt appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (63.1%), Black (28.6%), Two or More Races (3.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Pitt (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Pitt mean?
Derived from a place name meaning "pit" or "hollow," likely referring to someone who lived near a pit or hollow. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Pitt (2.85 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the last name Pitt?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans have the surname Pitt at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.