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Name Lineage

    The surname Poitier

    A French surname, carried by 526 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈpwɑːtjeɪ/ 2 syllables Soundex P360

    Poitier: #41,359 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer#10,001Dubon Poitier #41,359, 526 people Poitier: #41,359 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#100Jimenez Poitier #41,359, 526 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Poitier is more common than 74.5% of them.

    Origin

    French origin

    Borrowed from French Poitier. This surname is predominantly found in the Bahamas.

    One of 791 French surnames on this site.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 526 people named Poitier in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 586,969 Americans. That is up 20% since 2000, when the Census counted 439.

    #41,359
    rank among US surnames
    526
    people in 2010
    0.2
    per 100,000 Americans
    +19.8%
    change since 2000 (was #45,829)

    Who is named Poitier

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

    90% of people named Poitier identified as Black (not Hispanic), 3.6% as two or more races and 3.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • Black (not Hispanic) 90%
    • Two or more races 3.6%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.2%
    • White (not Hispanic) 2.9%

    Compare: most common surnames among Black Americans.

    Famous Poitiers

    1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Sidney Poitier
      Bahamian and American actor and diplomat (1927–2022)

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Poitier

    Poitier has the Soundex code P360, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P360.

    Other French surnames

    All 791 French surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Poitier come from?
    Borrowed from French Poitier. This surname is predominantly found in the Bahamas.
    How common is the surname Poitier?
    526 people in the United States had the surname Poitier in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 586,969 Americans. It ranked 41,359th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Poitier?
    In the 2010 Census, 90% of people named Poitier identified as Black (not Hispanic), and 3.6% as two or more races.
    Who is the most famous person named Poitier?
    Sidney Poitier, Bahamian and American actor and diplomat (1927–2022).
    Where is the surname Poitier most common?
    Wikidata records people named Poitier in the United States.
    How do you pronounce Poitier?
    Poitier is /ˈpwɑːtjeɪ/, 2 syllables.
    Is the surname Poitier getting more or less common?
    More common. 439 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 526 in 2010, up 20%.