Pettigrew
A Cornish surname from a place-name meaning “crane’s grove,” later also associated by folk etymology with “pedigree.”
The #4,458 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 38,797 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest historical evidence points to a Cornish place-name origin. The surname is linked to the manor of Pettigrew in Cornwall, explained in one source as meaning “the crane’s grove” from Cornish elements for “crane” and “grove.” Some older writers also connected Pettigrew with French-style forms meaning “crane foot” and even with the word “pedigree,” but that looks like a later learned association rather than the primary source of the surname.
History
This is an old Cornish surname that entered wider English use from a local place-name. Later antiquarian writers recorded variant spellings such as Petigrew, Pettygrew, and Petticru. The resemblance to “pedigree” made the name memorable and encouraged speculative explanations in older dictionaries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century writers repeated the striking idea that Pettigrew was related to “pedigree,” but the better historical explanation is a Cornish place-name.
From the historical record
“PETTIPHERJ PETTIGREW (A.-Fr.-Lat.) Crane-Foot (a nickname) [A.-Fr. pee de grue, foot of a crane — Lat. pes, pedis, a foot ; de, of j grus (abl. grue), a crane] Pettigrew is therefore the same as the word ' pedigree,', which occurs in the i5th-ceint, 'Promptorium Parvulorum ' as petygru, etc. PET(T)INGER, a (North.)…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)