Plunkett
An old surname with Norman-French roots, most likely meaning someone from a plank bridge or plank-lined crossing.
The #3,335 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 28,699 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually traced to a Norman-French place-name, from words for a plank, board, or plank bridge. The Old French form behind it appears to have meant something like “(the place of) the plank bridge” or “the plank way,” ultimately from Latin planca, “board.” Some 19th-century writers also suggested a nickname sense from a word meaning “flat-footed,” but the place-name explanation is the stronger one in the historical sources here.
History
The name is recorded in medieval England in several spellings, including forms with de, suggesting an original locational byname. It later became established in Ireland as well, where some authorities connected it with Norman settlement and later Irish family history. The surname is especially associated with prominent Irish families, including the Plunketts of noble standing.
Origin
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Fun fact
One historical source notes a Norman place-name, Planquette in the Eure département, as a possible source of the surname.
From the historical record
“PLUNKET 1 (A.-Fr.-Lat.) for the French {de PLUNKETT Ur del) Plonquetife, (de or del) PLUNKITT J Planquet{te = i (Of the) Plank- Way, Plank-Bridge [Nor. Fr. planque (Ft. planche), with dim. suff. -et(te; Lat. planca, a board] 2 f.'the Lat. Planers = Flatfooted [with Fr. dim. suff. -et(te] There is a ia Planquette in…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)