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    The surname Potter

    An occupational surname, carried by 72,175 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈpɑtɚ/ 2 syllables Soundex P360

    Potter: #457 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Potter #457, 72,175 people Potter: #457 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott Potter #457, 72,175 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Potter is more common than 99.7% of them.

    Origin

    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.

    Potter is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 72,175 people named Potter in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 4,278 Americans. That is up 1.5% since 2000, when the Census counted 71,103.

    #457
    rank among US surnames
    72,175
    people in 2010
    24
    per 100,000 Americans
    +1.5%
    change since 2000 (was #413)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #448Trujillo73,6644,191
    #449Adkins73,5994,195
    #450Brady73,1454,221
    #451Goodman73,1364,222
    #452Roman72,9184,234
    #453Webster72,6254,251
    #454Goodwin72,4514,261

    Who is named Potter

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

    89% of people named Potter identified as white (not Hispanic), 5.1% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 89%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 5.1%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
    • Two or more races 2.0%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Potters

    25 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Beatrix Potter
      British children's writer and illustrator (1866–1943)
    • Ryan Potter
      American actor, born 1995
    • Monica Potter
      American actress, born 1971
    • Carol Potter
      American actress, born 1948
    • Lauren Potter
      American actress, born 1990
    • Dean Potter
      American rock climber (1972–2015)
    • Chris Potter
      American jazz saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, born 1971
    • 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, born 1983

    Notable Potters come mostly from the United States (20), the United Kingdom (3) and the Kingdom of Great Britain (2).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Potter

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

    Questions

    Where does the surname Potter come from?
    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.
    How common is the surname Potter?
    72,175 people in the United States had the surname Potter in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 4,278 Americans. It ranked 457th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Potter?
    In the 2010 Census, 89% of people named Potter identified as white (not Hispanic), and 5.1% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Potter?
    Beatrix Potter, British children's writer and illustrator (1866–1943), followed by Ryan Potter.
    Where is the surname Potter most common?
    Wikidata records people named Potter in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Great Britain.
    How do you pronounce Potter?
    Potter is /ˈpɑtɚ/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Potter?
    Potter is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
    Is the surname Potter getting more or less common?
    More common. 71,103 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 72,175 in 2010, up 1.5%.