Sites
A surname with an uncertain origin, possibly a later spelling shaped by the common word “site” or a variant of a similar-sounding older name.
The #7,195 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 66,483 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Sites is not securely explained in the historical sources provided. Because it matches the English word site, one possibility is that it developed as a spelling fixed from a local or descriptive nickname connected with a place, plot, or location. However, the 19th-century surname literature quoted here does not give a clear derivation, so the name is best treated as uncertain rather than confidently assigned to one root.
History
The name appears in North American surname lists by the mid-19th century, showing that it was already established in anglophone usage. The available excerpt from Bowditch records Sites among other family names but does not explain its origin. In practice, the surname seems uncommon and may represent more than one family line with separate roots or spellings.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In the 1861 Bowditch surname list, Sites appears alongside several other uncommon names, which suggests it was already a recognized family surname in North America by that date.
From the historical record
“XXXI. NAMES FROM MONEY AND THRIFT, AND THEIR OPPO- SITES 338 XXXII. NAMES FROM CHARITY ; FROM COMMERCE AND NAVI- GATION ; FROM DIGNITIES AND OFFICES .... 346 XXXIII. NAMES FROM TRADES AND OCCUPATIONS 354 XXXIV. NAMES FROM PRODUCTS AND OBJECTS OF TRADE. — NAMES FROM EATABLES 362 XXXV. NAMES FROM HORSEMANSHIP AND…”
— Suffolk Surnames (3rd ed.)