# Plunkett (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/plunkett/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Norman.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Norman |
| Type | place, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 10,758 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,335 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 28,699 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.8% (10,571 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From the Norman habitational surname, from the village of Pleugueneuc, in Brittany, said to be from Breton plou (“parish”) (from Latin plebs) + the personal name Guenec, formed from gwenn (“white”). As an Irish surname, it has been Gaelicized in Pluincéid.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Plunkett in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 85% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 8.5% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.4% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.1% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 2.1% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Plunkett in the United States.

## People named Plunkett

- Roy J. Plunkett, American chemist (1910–1994)
- Maryann Plunkett, American actress
- Walter Plunkett, American costume designer (1902-1982)
- Jim Plunkett, American football player (born 1947)

## Similar surnames

Plunk, Polanco, Poling, Plank, Palmisano, Palencia, Polansky, Pullins, Palmquist, Plancarte, Pauling, Pilling.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.