NameCensus.

UK surname

Pitt

Derived from a place name meaning "pit" or "hollow," likely referring to someone who lived near a pit or hollow.

In the 1881 census there were 6,397 people recorded with the Pitt surname, ranking it #667 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 7,717, ranked #862, down from #667 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, London parishes and Lambeth. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Blaenau Gwent, Shropshire and Stockton-on-Tees.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Pitt is 8,253 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 20.6%.

1881 census count

6,397

Ranked #667

Modern count

7,717

2016, ranked #862

Peak year

1999

8,253 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Pitt had 6,397 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #667 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 7,717 in 2016, ranked #862.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 8,165 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Pitt surname distribution map

The map shows where the Pitt surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Pitt surname density by area, 1881 census.

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Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Pitt over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 4,288 #659
1861 historical 4,113 #678
1881 historical 6,397 #667
1891 historical 6,372 #728
1901 historical 7,710 #697
1911 historical 8,165 #613
1997 modern 7,967 #807
1998 modern 8,229 #809
1999 modern 8,253 #816
2000 modern 8,110 #826
2001 modern 7,926 #826
2002 modern 8,104 #823
2003 modern 7,853 #827
2004 modern 7,863 #825
2005 modern 7,669 #837
2006 modern 7,654 #839
2007 modern 7,674 #849
2008 modern 7,681 #853
2009 modern 7,835 #857
2010 modern 7,972 #859
2011 modern 7,907 #854
2012 modern 7,776 #848
2013 modern 7,859 #853
2014 modern 7,859 #860
2015 modern 7,758 #861
2016 modern 7,717 #862

Geography

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Where Pitts are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, London parishes and Lambeth. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Blaenau Gwent, Shropshire, Stockton-on-Tees and Herefordshire. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff Gloucestershire
2 London parishes London 1
3 London parishes London 3
4 Lambeth London (South Districts)
5 London parishes London 2

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Blaenau Gwent 009 Blaenau Gwent
2 Shropshire 034 Shropshire
3 Stockton-on-Tees 012 Stockton-on-Tees
4 Shropshire 038 Shropshire
5 Herefordshire 005 Herefordshire, County of

Forenames

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First names often paired with Pitt

These lists show first names that appear often with the Pitt surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Pitt

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Pitt, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities

Group

Rural Amenity

Nationally, the Pitt surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Rural Amenity, within Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities. This does not mean every Pitt household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

This Group comprises older parents or retirees, with no resident dependent children, and with the lowest residential densities in this Supergroup. Predominantly UK-born, residents typically live in detached houses, although others do live in semi-detached and terraced properties. The level of multiple car ownership is the highest in this Supergroup. Most houses are owner occupied although social renting is also present. Many concentrations occur in high amenity rural locations, such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Wider pattern

Pervasive throughout the UK, members of this Supergroup typically own (or are buying) their detached, semi-detached or terraced homes. They are also typically educated to A Level/Highers or degree level and work in skilled or professional occupations. Typically born in the UK, some families have children, although the median adult age is above 45 and some property has become under-occupied after children have left home. This Supergroup is pervasive not only in suburban locations, but also in neighbourhoods at or beyond the edge of cities that adjoin rural parts of the country.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Pitt is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers, part of The Greater London Mix. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Mainly located in Inner London, these neighbourhoods retain a diverse employment structure, with some concentration in associated professional and technical occupations rather than skilled trades or construction. Social renting is more common and levels of homeownership are low. Many residents identify as Black. There is a lower than average rate of marriage or civil partnership, few that are very old (85 or over) and higher than average incidence of disability.

Wider London pattern

A Supergroup embodying London's diversity in many respects, apart from low numbers of residents identifying as of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Other (non-Chinese) Asian ethnicity. There is lower than average prevalence of families with dependent children, while there are above average occurrences of never-married individuals and single-person households. The age distribution is skewed towards younger, single residents and couples without children, with many individuals identifying as of mixed or multiple ethnicity. Social rented or private rented housing is slightly more prevalent than average, and many residents live in flats. Individuals typically work in professional and associated roles in public administration, education or health rather than in elementary occupations in agriculture, energy, water, construction or manufacturing. Incidence of students is slightly below average. Individuals declaring no religion are more prevalent than average and non-use of English at home is below average.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Pitt is most concentrated in decile 5 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname near the middle of the scale.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

5
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Pitt falls in decile 5 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname near the middle of the scale.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

5
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Pitt is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 30-40 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

6
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Pitt, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

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.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Pitt families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Pitt surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Middlesex leads with 911 Pitts recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.46x.

County Total Index
Middlesex 911 1.46x
Staffordshire 690 3.27x
Worcestershire 473 5.80x
Gloucestershire 452 3.69x
Surrey 448 1.47x
Warwickshire 443 2.81x
Hampshire 326 2.55x
Herefordshire 271 10.59x
Lancashire 207 0.28x
Essex 196 1.59x
Yorkshire 196 0.32x
Sussex 154 1.46x
Devon 129 0.99x
Somerset 119 1.18x
Wiltshire 118 2.14x
Kent 103 0.48x
Suffolk 102 1.34x
Ayrshire 80 1.71x
Durham 80 0.43x
Norfolk 74 0.77x
Monmouthshire 72 1.60x
Shropshire 68 1.26x
Glamorgan 61 0.56x
Nottinghamshire 57 0.68x
Cheshire 55 0.40x
Berkshire 43 0.92x
Lanarkshire 43 0.21x
Derbyshire 35 0.36x
Dorset 31 0.76x
Oxfordshire 30 0.78x
Cambridgeshire 27 0.68x
Lincolnshire 26 0.26x
Hertfordshire 23 0.53x
Cumberland 21 0.39x
Northumberland 21 0.23x
Berwickshire 20 2.65x
Cornwall 20 0.28x
Midlothian 19 0.23x
Kirkcudbrightshire 18 1.99x
Buckinghamshire 17 0.45x
Roxburghshire 15 1.33x
Northamptonshire 14 0.24x
Brecknockshire 13 1.04x
Fife 11 0.30x
Radnorshire 11 2.18x
Montgomeryshire 8 0.56x
Royal Navy 7 0.94x
Channel Islands 6 0.32x
Leicestershire 5 0.07x
Carmarthenshire 4 0.15x
Clackmannanshire 4 0.78x
Renfrewshire 4 0.08x
Aberdeenshire 3 0.05x
Dumfriesshire 3 0.22x
Pembrokeshire 3 0.15x
Westmorland 3 0.22x
Dunbartonshire 2 0.12x
Bedfordshire 1 0.03x
Flintshire 1 0.06x
Rutland 1 0.22x
Sutherland 1 0.21x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Birmingham in Warwickshire leads with 195 Pitts recorded in 1881 and an index of 3.72x.

Place Total Index
Birmingham 195 3.72x
Aston 188 4.34x
Lambeth 146 2.68x
Wolverhampton 96 5.93x
West Bromwich 91 7.54x
Portsea 87 3.47x
Hackney London 65 1.86x
Islington London 65 1.07x
Kidderminster Borough 65 13.62x
Kingswinford 65 8.50x
Willenhall 64 16.22x
Walsall Foreign 56 5.15x
St Pancras London 54 1.07x
Kensington London 53 1.53x
St George Hanover 51 6.26x
Brighton 48 2.26x
Hammersmith London 48 3.12x
Wednesbury 48 9.12x
Bristol St Philip Jacob 46 3.99x
Bilston 45 11.02x
Chelsea London 45 2.39x
Dudley 43 4.34x
Newington 41 1.78x
Mile End Old Town 40 4.06x
Battersea 39 1.70x
Camberwell 39 0.98x
Westbury On Trym 37 8.92x
Kettlebaston 36 1019.83x
Paddington London 34 1.48x
Tottenham 31 3.12x
Bethnal Green London 30 1.11x
Poplar London 30 2.55x
Sutton In Ashfield 30 16.43x
Croydon 29 1.72x
Southwark St George Martyr 28 2.23x
Stroud 28 11.75x
Liverpool 27 0.60x
Shoreditch London 27 1.00x
Stonehouse 27 38.81x
Great Malvern 26 15.29x
Mathon 26 108.74x
Putney 26 9.14x
Gateshead 25 1.80x
St George In East 25 5.89x
St Marylebone London 25 0.75x
Barony 24 0.47x
Malmesbury St Paul 23 48.44x
Sheffield 23 1.17x
Bristol St Paul In 21 6.44x
Gloucester Barton St 21 29.27x
Hampstead London 21 2.16x
Kings Norton 21 2.87x
Tipton 21 3.25x
Upton On Severn 21 39.33x
Ealing 20 3.59x
Stoke Damerel 20 2.20x
Stourbridge 20 9.54x
Wednesfield 20 6.45x
Abingdon St Helen 19 13.87x
Birkenhead 19 1.73x
Hanley Castle 19 38.95x
Harborne 19 2.81x
Oldbury 19 4.74x
Handsworth 18 3.47x
Maldon St Marys 18 60.96x
Southampton St Mary 18 2.24x
Bromley London 17 1.24x
Clent 17 79.40x
Cradley 17 45.41x
Ledbury 17 19.34x
Sedgley 17 2.17x
South Stoneham 17 6.13x
Winslow 17 192.74x
Fulham London 16 1.77x
Gloucester St John Baptist 16 20.24x
Millbrook 16 4.97x
Clerkenwell London 15 1.02x
Ryde 15 5.46x
Westport St Mary 15 37.50x
Willesden 15 2.55x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Pitt surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 356
Sarah 232
Elizabeth 229
Jane 121
Eliza 114
Ann 111
Emma 110
Annie 100
Ellen 96
Emily 96
Alice 84
Louisa 66
Charlotte 57
Hannah 51
Edith 48
Maria 45
Clara 44
Martha 42
Catherine 41
Fanny 40
Florence 40
Ada 39
Caroline 39
Harriet 36
Frances 32
Lucy 31
Harriett 29
Margaret 29
Amelia 27
Anne 24
Kate 23
Agnes 22
Susan 22
Rose 21
Sophia 21
Isabella 20
Minnie 20
Jessie 19
Julia 18
Matilda 18
Susannah 18
Phoebe 16
Gertrude 13
Laura 12
Esther 11
Ethel 11
Amy 10
Elizth. 10
Maud 10
Rachel 10

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Pitt surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
William 416
John 289
George 233
Thomas 191
James 178
Charles 160
Henry 157
Joseph 107
Alfred 65
Edward 63
Arthur 57
Samuel 56
Frederick 55
Walter 55
Robert 49
Albert 44
Harry 42
Frank 36
Benjamin 34
Richard 33
Edwin 28
Ernest 25
David 24
Francis 22
Herbert 22
Wm. 19
Thos. 14
Stephen 13
Fredk. 12
Isaac 12
Alexander 11
Daniel 9
Sydney 9
Fred 8
Percy 8
Abraham 7
Andrew 7
Peter 7
Frederic 6
Horace 6
Leonard 6
Matthew 6
Philip 6
Sidney 6
Cornelius 5
Fredrick 5
Hubert 5
Jesse 5
Mark 5
Robt. 5

Top occupations

Occupational titles are kept as recorded and later transcribed, so related jobs, spelling variants and mistakes stay separate. Scholar was the census term for a child in education. That means the other rows often tell you more about adult work in Pitt households.

FAQ

Pitt surname: questions and answers

How common was the Pitt surname in 1881?

In 1881, 6,397 people were recorded with the Pitt surname. That placed it at #667 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Pitt surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 7,717 in 2016. That gives Pitt a modern rank of #862.

What does the Pitt surname mean?

Derived from a place name meaning "pit" or "hollow," likely referring to someone who lived near a pit or hollow.

What does the Pitt map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Pitt bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.