Surette last name popularity, history, and meaning

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

Meaning of Surette

A surname referring to a person from the French town of Surette.

Surette, 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 Surette surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Surette in America

Surette is the 17784th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Surette surname appeared 1,575 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 Surette.

We can also compare 2010 data for Surette 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.

2010 2000 Change (%)
Rank 17784 16859 5.34%
Count 1,575 1,558 1.09%
Proportion per 100k 0.53 0.58 -9.01%

The history of the last name Surette

The surname Surette is of French origin, originating in the northwestern region of France, particularly in the provinces of Brittany and Normandy. The name can be traced back to the late Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century.

Surette is derived from the Old French word "surette," which means "little sister" or "little nun." This suggests that the name may have initially referred to a diminutive form of a female name or been associated with religious orders or institutions.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Surette can be found in the "Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Redon" (Cartulary of the Abbey of Redon), a medieval manuscript from Brittany dating back to the 11th century. This cartulary contains various references to individuals with the surname Surette or similar spellings.

During the 13th century, a notable figure named Alain Surette was mentioned in the "Rôles des Assises de la Vicomté de Rouen" (Rolls of the Assizes of the Viscounty of Rouen), a collection of legal records from Normandy. This reference suggests that the Surette family had established roots in the region by that time.

In the late 16th century, a French explorer and navigator, François Surette, played a significant role in the early exploration of the Atlantic coast of Canada. Born in Saint-Malo, Brittany, in 1536, he is known for his voyages to Cape Breton Island and the Gulf of St. Lawrence, contributing to the mapping of the region.

Another notable individual with the surname Surette was Jean-Baptiste Surette, a French-Canadian painter and engraver born in Quebec in 1675. He is recognized for his religious artwork and portraits, which adorned many churches and institutions in the colony of New France.

During the 17th century, the Surette family also had a presence in the Acadian region of what is now eastern Canada. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name in this area is found in the "Censuses of Acadia," where the name is spelled "Seurete" or "Seurete."

Throughout history, variations of the spelling have included Seurette, Seuret, Seurate, and Seurete, reflecting the evolution of the name over time and across different regions. Place names like Seuret in France and Seurette in Belgium may also be related to the surname's origins.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Surette

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

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 Surette was:

Race/Ethnicity Percentage Total Occurrences
Non-Hispanic White Only 95.11% 1,498
Non-Hispanic Black Only 1.71% 27
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only 0.89% 14
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% 0
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races 0.89% 14
Hispanic Origin 1.40% 22

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 Surette has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

2010 2000 Change (%)
White 95.11% 96.79% -1.75%
Black 1.71% 0.90% 62.07%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.89% (S)% (S)%
American Indian and Alaskan Native 0.00% (S)% (S)%
Two or More Races 0.89% 0.96% -7.57%
Hispanic 1.40% 0.58% 82.83%

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

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

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