2000
#11,705
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,455
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.91
Rare Last name
Plott
A topographic surname referring to someone who lived near a plot of land or small field.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 2,572 Americans carry the last name Plott. That puts it at #13,069 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.75 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 133,264 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Plott 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 Plott with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
2.6K
1 in 133,264
Census rank
#13,069
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.8
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
2.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 2,243 bearers of the surname Plott in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.75 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 13069th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Plott, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Black (4.5%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Plott
The surname Plott has its origins in England, tracing back to the 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old English word "plot," which referred to a small piece of land or plot of ground. This suggests that the name may have initially been used to denote someone who lived on or worked a small plot of land.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Plott can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Cambridgeshire from 1273, where it appears as "Robert de la Plotte." This early spelling variation highlights the connection to the Old English word for a small plot of land.
The Plott surname also appears in the renowned Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of land ownership and taxation compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. In this significant historical document, the name is recorded as "Ploht," further reinforcing its roots in Old English.
Over the centuries, the name has undergone several spelling variations, including Plotts, Plott, Ploght, and Plough. Some of these variations may have been influenced by regional dialects or scribal errors in transcribing the name.
Notable individuals bearing the Plott surname throughout history include:
1. John Plott (c. 1590-1665), an English clergyman and author who served as the Rector of Buckland Newton in Dorset.
2. Robert Plott (1640-1696), an English naturalist, writer, and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
3. Nathaniel Plott (1630-1706), an English clergyman and writer who served as the Rector of Bushley in Worcestershire.
4. William Plott (1659-1735), an English mathematician and astronomer who assisted Isaac Newton in his work on the Principia Mathematica.
5. John Plott (1732-1805), an English landscape painter known for his depictions of rural scenes in the Midlands region.
While the Plott surname has its origins in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world through migration and immigration. However, the focus of this report remains on the historical roots and early recorded instances of the name in its country of origin.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Plott
Among Census respondents with the surname Plott, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Black (4.5%) and Two or More Races (2.7%).
The bar chart below shows how Plott 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 Plott surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.8% · 2,014
- Black or African American4.5% · 101
- Two or more races2.7% · 61
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 16
Timeline
Historical Census data for Plott
Plott 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
#11,993
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,604
+149 bearers (+6.1%)
Per 100,000 0.88
Rank movement Down 288 places
2020
#13,069
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 2,243
-361 bearers (-13.9%)
Per 100,000 0.75
Rank movement Down 1,076 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #11,705 | 2,455 | 0.91 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #11,993 | 2,604 | 0.88 | +149 bearers (+6.1%) | Down 288 places |
| 2020 | #13,069 | 2,243 | 0.75 | -361 bearers (-13.9%) | Down 1,076 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 Plott 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 | #11,993 | #13,069 | -9.0% |
| Count | 2,604 | 2,243 | -13.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.88 | 0.75 | -14.7% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Plott bearers went from 2,604 to 2,243 (-13.9% change). The surname moved down 1,076 positions in the national ranking, going from #11,993 to #13,069.
FAQ
Plott surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Plott?
Name Census estimates that about 2,572 living Americans carry the surname Plott. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 133,264 residents.
How common is Plott?
Plott ranks #13,069 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.75 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 2,243 people with the surname Plott. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (2,572), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.75 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.75 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Plott.
Has Plott become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Plott went from 2,604 recorded bearers to 2,243. That is a decrease of 361 (-13.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #11,993 to #13,069.
What does the Census say about the background of Plott?
Among Census respondents with the surname Plott, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Black (4.5%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Plott in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (2,014 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Plott appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.8%), Black (4.5%), Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Plott (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 Plott mean?
A topographic surname referring to someone who lived near a plot of land or small field. 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 Plott (0.75 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 common is the surname Plott?
Want to know how many people have the surname Plott? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.