PITMAN
Pitman is a surname of English origin, recorded as both an occupational and topographical name. The earliest attestations appear in the early thirteenth century in England, most notably in a witness record dated 1203 of Urban Piteman at the Assize Court of Northampton during the reign of King John.
The name derives from the Old English pre‑seventh‑century word pytt, meaning pit or hole, combined with the suffix mann meaning man. Consequently, the term originally described a person who worked in a pit—such as a miner—or a man who lived near a pit or hollow in the landscape.
Early documentary examples in the seventeenth century include Johanes Pittman, who married Alicia Spratt at St Martin in the Fields, London, on 25 July 1633, and Andrew Pitman, who married at St Dionis Backchurch, London, on 19 April 1645. These instances confirm the continued use of the name in London during the early modern period.
Within the United Kingdom the surname is most prevalent in the South West, particularly in Devon and Cornwall. In the United States it is most commonly found in the Eastern states of New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The distribution reflects the historical migration of families bearing the name from northern England to overseas colonies.
Variations in spelling are common. According to record, the surname has been recorded as Pittman, Pettman, Putnam, Pyttman, Pitmann, Pittmann, Peteman, Pittin, Pottman and others, depending on regional dialect and orthographic practice. These variants, while differing in form, share the same linguistic root and refer to the same occupational and topographical origins.
Today the surname remains in use across the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several other countries. Its endurance is attributable to its clear occupational heritage and the common practice of adopting descriptive surnames in medieval England.
Typical given names associated with the Pitman surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Matthew
- Michael
- Richard
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Elizabeth
- Gillian
- Jane
- Jennifer
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Marion
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Rachel
- Rebecca
- Sarah
- Shirley
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Pitman in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 4,451 people named Pitman in the UK. That makes it roughly the 2,113th most common surname in Britain. Around 68 in a million people in Britain are named Pitman.
Surname type: Occupational name
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Pitman
- Herbert Pitman - Third Officer of Titanic (1877 to 1961)
- Brett Pitman - Football player
- Jenny Pitman - Racehorse trainer
- Isaac Pitman - Inventor (1813 to 1897)
- James Pitman - Politician (1901 to 1985)
- John Pitman - Journalist (1940 to 2018)
- Frederick Pitman - Rower (1892 to 1963)
- Charles Pitman - Naturalist (1890 to 1975)
- Jamie Pitman - Football player and football manager
- Reuben Pitman - Football player
- Raymond Pitman - Cricketer (1933 to 1998)
- Rory Pitman - Welsh rugby union and rugby league football player
- Benjamin Pitman - United states stenographer and crafts promoter (1822 to 1910)
- Jane Bragg Pitman - (1825 to 1877)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.