Pettit
A French nickname surname meaning “little” or “small,” ultimately from petit.
The #1,892 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 16,246 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Pettit is a surname from French petit, meaning “little” or “small.” The name began as a nickname for a small person or perhaps someone regarded as young or slight. Some older writers also linked it with a French diminutive ending, but the core sense is simply “little.”
History
The surname appears in English records in spellings such as Petit, Pettit, Pettett, and Pettitt, reflecting French influence after the Norman period and later French immigration. Nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century surname scholars regularly treated it as the French equivalent of English Little or Petty. It remains most familiar in England, Ireland, and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries often grouped Pettit with other French nicknames like Grand and Le Neve, showing how many French family names crossed into English usage.
From the historical record
“PETTET , PETTETT 1 PETTIT PETTITT 2 the Fi;ench Petet {also Petot) = Soft, Delicate, Small-footed [v. under Peat' and + the Fr. dim. suff. -et (and -oi\ PETTIFER 1 PETTI FOR U. Petifer.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)