Piatt
An English surname that appears to be a spelling variant of Piatt, ultimately linked by some sources to Pitt or Platt-type forms.
The #4,746 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 41,370 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical sources are not fully consistent. Harrison explicitly says Piatt is a variant of Pyett, while other surname references place Piatt alongside Platt/Platt-type spellings in regional English records. That means the name may have developed as a spelling variant rather than from one single clear root, and the original meaning is not certain from the excerpts alone.
History
The surname is documented in English parish and probate records by the 16th century, and later appears in London and other British records, with some spread to North America. The variant spellings in older sources suggest that local pronunciation and clerical spelling probably played a large role in its history. Because the evidence in the excerpts is scattered, the safest conclusion is that Piatt is an established English surname with a somewhat blurred early pedigree.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In one 19th-century surname dictionary, Piatt is cross-referenced rather than fully defined, which is a good reminder that many family names were recorded with shifting spellings before modern standardization.
From the historical record
“PHYTHIAN, app. for Vivian, q.v. i , ^ '. PIATT, v. Pyett. PICARD (Fr.) I Picardian i.e. one from Picardy, Fr. Picardie, a province-name of doubtful origin, but almost certainly f. Fv. pique {pic), a pike (v. Pick'), with the dim. suff. -ard. The Soci6t6 des Antiquaires de Picardy, it appears, considers that Pfcari…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)