Potter
An occupational surname for a maker or seller of pots and earthenware.
The #457 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 4,278 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Potter comes from Middle English poter(e), potter(e), meaning someone who made or sold pots. The word is ultimately from Old English pott, “pot,” plus the agent suffix -ere, “one who does a job.” In that sense, the surname originally identified a craft worker dealing in pottery or earthenware.
History
This is one of the most common English occupational surnames and appears early in medieval records. It also turns up in literature, including the Robin Hood tradition, where a potter is a recognizable trade figure. The name spread widely in England and later in other English-speaking countries, especially through ordinary occupational inheritance rather than a single family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Robin Hood famously encounters a potter in one of the traditional ballads, a reminder that the trade was familiar enough to be a stock character.
From the historical record
“Richard Potel— Hund. Rolls. POTTER (Eng.) Pot-Maker; Pot-Seller [M.E. poter(e, potter(e; O.E. pott, a pot -|- the agent, suff. -ere] The potter whoni Robin Hood failed to despoil Said that the ' pottys ' which he was carting to NottingTiam for sale there were worth ' two nobellys' (Roben Hode and the Potter). '…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Potter
- Harry Potter (b. 1980)
- Beatrix Potter (1866–1943)
- Ginny Weasley (b. 1981)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.