# Potter (surname)

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

An English surname originating as an occupation for a potter.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 72,175 |
| US rank (2010) | 457 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 4,278 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.5% (71,103 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɑtɚ/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Middle English Potter, English, Dutch, and north German surname, from the noun pot. The usage for someone from Stoke-on-Trent refers to it being the home of the pottery industry in England, where it is also known as The Potteries.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Potter 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) | 89% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 5.1% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.5% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.8% |
| Two or more races | 2.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Potter in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Great Britain.

## People named Potter

- Beatrix Potter, British children's writer and illustrator (1866–1943)
- Ryan Potter, American actor
- Monica Potter, American actress
- Carol Potter, American actress
- Lauren Potter, American actress
- Dean Potter, American rock climber (1972–2015)
- Chris Potter, American jazz saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist
- Dennis Potter, British dramatist and screenwriter (1935–1994)
- Tommy Potter, American jazz double bassist (1918–1988)
- H. C. Potter, American director (1904-1977)
- Henry Potter, Amateur golfer (1881–1955)
- Grace Potter, American singer-songwriter

and 13 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Peter, Poitra, Pater, Pitter, Poitier, Pothier, Petrie, Pedro, Pitre, Petro, Petry, Piedra.

## 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.