Peet
A surname most likely from the medieval name Peter, though some sources also connect it with a pet-name or a godparent term.
The #9,471 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 89,908 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Peet is usually treated as a short form or variant of Peter, ultimately from the Greek name Petros, meaning "rock." Historical surname dictionaries also note related continental forms such as Dutch Peet/Piette and French or German spellings that point to the same name-family. One older suggestion links Peet to a word for a godparent in Middle Dutch, but the Peter derivation is the more common explanation in the sources.
History
English surname writers record Peet as a spelling alongside Peat, Peete, and similar forms, often in the same cluster as names derived from Peter. The name appears in Britain in several regional and orthographic variants, and the same root was also widespread on the Continent. Because medieval spelling was fluid, Peet may reflect either a direct Peter-form or a later simplified spelling of a related nickname form.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older surname books, Peet is often grouped with a whole family of near-lookalike forms—Pete, Pate, Pitt, and Peat—showing how hard it can be to separate medieval spellings from true surname branches.
From the historical record
“PEET " PEETE, Peat(e, q.v. PEETS = Peats, q.v. PEEVER "I Bel. to Peever or Peover (Chesh.), PEEVOR J anc. Pevre.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Peet
- Amanda Peet (b. 1972)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.