How common is the surname Petty?

34,882 people in the United States had the surname Petty in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 8,851 Americans. It ranked 1,005th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Petty?

Tom Petty, American musician (1950-2017), followed by Richard Petty.

Where is the surname Petty most common?

Wikidata records people named Petty in the United States and the United Kingdom.

How do you pronounce Petty?

Petty is /ˈpɛti/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Petty getting more or less common?

More common. 34,278 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 34,882 in 2010, up 1.8%.

The surname Petty

A surname, carried by 34,882 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈpɛti/ 2 syllables Soundex P300

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Petty is more common than 99.4% of them.

Origin

A surname.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 34,882 people named Petty in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 8,851 Americans. That is up 1.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 34,278.

#1,005

rank among US surnames

34,882

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+1.8%

change since 2000 (was #933)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#996	Odom	35,020	8,816
#997	Daugherty	34,987	8,825
#998	Travis	34,985	8,825
#999	Tang	34,961	8,831
#1,000	Archer	34,949	8,834
#1,001	Haas	34,918	8,842
#1,002	Galloway	34,909	8,844

Who is named Petty

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

73% of people named Petty identified as white (not Hispanic), 21% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 73%
Black (not Hispanic) 21%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 2.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Pettys

12 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Tom Petty
American musician (1950-2017)
Richard Petty
American racing driver, born 1937
Lori Petty
American actress, born 1963
Norman Petty
American musician and record producer, talent manager (1927-1984)
Lee Petty
American racecar driver (1914–2000)
Rhonda Jo Petty
American pornographic actress, born 1955
Kyle Petty
American stock car racing driver, born 1960
J. T. Petty
American film director, born 1977
Yasmine Petty
American model, born 1987
Adam Petty
American racing driver (1980–2000)
Florence Petty
British cookery writer and broadcaster (1870–1948)
Rocco Rock
American professional wrestler (1953–2002)

Notable Pettys come mostly from the United States (11) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Petty

Petty has the Soundex code P300, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P300.

Questions

How common is the surname Petty?: 34,882 people in the United States had the surname Petty in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 8,851 Americans. It ranked 1,005th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Petty?: In the 2010 Census, 73% of people named Petty identified as white (not Hispanic), and 21% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Petty?: Tom Petty, American musician (1950-2017), followed by Richard Petty.
Where is the surname Petty most common?: Wikidata records people named Petty in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Petty?: Petty is /ˈpɛti/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Petty getting more or less common?: More common. 34,278 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 34,882 in 2010, up 1.8%.