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

Polite, 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 Polite surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Polite in America

Polite is the 8067th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Polite surname appeared 4,108 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Polite.

We can also compare 2010 data for Polite 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 Polite

The surname POLITE originates from France, first appearing in records around the 11th century. It is derived from the Old French word "polite", which means "cultured" or "well-mannered". This name likely referred to someone who exhibited polite or refined behavior, a quality that was highly valued in medieval French society.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the POLITE surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a valuable record of landowners and tenants in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Politus", which was a latinized version of the French "Polite".

During the 12th century, the POLITE surname began to spread across Europe as French nobility and merchants traveled and settled in other regions. In England, the name was sometimes anglicized to "Polly" or "Polley", as evident in various parish records from that era.

Notable individuals bearing the POLITE surname include:

1. Jean-Baptiste POLITE (1610-1677), a French architect responsible for designing several notable buildings in Paris, including the Church of Saint-Roch.

2. Étienne POLITE (1722-1803), a French playwright and author who wrote several comedies that were popular in the 18th century.

3. Marie-Thérèse POLITE (1758-1825), a French artist known for her intricate miniature portraits of aristocratic families.

4. William POLITE (1815-1901), an English explorer and naturalist who documented various plant and animal species in the Amazon rainforest.

5. Émilie POLITE (1867-1942), a French feminist and activist who campaigned for women's suffrage and equal rights in the early 20th century.

The POLITE surname can also be found in various place names throughout France, such as Polite-sur-Cher, a small village in the Loire Valley region, and Polite-la-Montagne, a commune in the Rhône-Alpes region.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Polite

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

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

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

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