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

Plaisted, 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 Plaisted surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Plaisted in America

Plaisted is the 19703rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Plaisted surname appeared 1,367 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 Plaisted.

We can also compare 2010 data for Plaisted 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 Plaisted

The surname Plaisted is of English origin, deriving from the Old English words 'plae' meaning a meadow or pasture, and 'stede' meaning a place or farm. It is believed to have originated in the county of Kent during the medieval period, referring to someone who lived near or worked on a meadow or grazing land.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Plaisted can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as 'Pleistede', referring to a manor in Kent owned by a Norman nobleman. This suggests that the name had already been established in the region before the Norman Conquest of 1066.

During the 13th and 14th centuries, the name was commonly spelled as 'Pleystede' or 'Pleistede' in various records and documents from Kent and neighboring counties. It is thought that the modern spelling of 'Plaisted' became more prevalent in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Notable individuals with the surname Plaisted include Sir Hugh Plaisted (1528-1592), a wealthy landowner and Member of Parliament for Canterbury during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. In the 18th century, John Plaisted (1720-1795) was a prominent merchant and shipowner based in London.

Another notable figure was Sir Robert Plaisted (1835-1912), a British army officer who served in the Crimean War and the Indian Rebellion of 1857. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain's highest military honor, for his bravery in action during the siege of Delhi.

In the 20th century, Ralph Plaisted (1927-2008) was an American explorer and entrepreneur who, in 1967, became the first person to reach the North Pole overland by snowmobile and sledge. His expedition, known as the Plaisted Polar Expedition, was a significant achievement in Arctic exploration.

The surname Plaisted has also been associated with various place names in Kent, such as Plaisted Hall and Plaisted Farm, which further reinforces its historical connection to the region and its origins as a locational surname.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Plaisted

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!