Platt
A surname for someone who lived by a flat piece of land or open plot.
The #2,006 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 17,132 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Platt is usually explained as a topographic surname from Middle English plat, meaning a flat piece of ground or a plot of land. That Middle English word was likely reinforced by Old French plat, “flat,” ultimately from Latin plattus / plats, “flat.” In some cases it may also have been used more generally for someone living at or near a level place.
History
The name is found in medieval English records and later became established in several English counties, especially in the Midlands and southern England. Historical surname writers also treated some examples as related to place-names or local forms such as Platt or Plott, so not every family necessarily has the same exact origin. The spelling is stable, though variants and related forms such as Platts appear in records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname can be confused with the everyday word plat, but in surname use it often points to a landscape feature rather than an object.
From the historical record
“Walter Playtur.— if««i. Rolls. PLATT (A.-Fr.-Lat.) Dweller on a Flat [Fr. i>/a<; V. under Plater] Du Plat (Duplat) is now rather rare in France. (Eng.) Dweller at a Plot of ground ' [M.E. platft, app. f. O.E. plot, with the M.E. spelling influenced by Fr. plat]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Platt
- Oliver Platt (b. 1960)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.