Pitre
A French surname probably from a pet form of Pierre, the French form of Peter.
The #5,257 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 46,519 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The most likely source is French Pitre, treated in older surname studies as a shortened or altered form of Pierre, the French equivalent of Peter. In that reading, the name ultimately goes back to Greek Petros, meaning "rock." Because the form is short and regional, some older writers treated it as a local nickname or variant rather than a fully standard surname form.
History
The name appears in French and Breton contexts, and 19th-century surname writers note it alongside related forms such as Pitrat and Pitrou. In modern usage it is especially familiar in French-speaking areas and in places with French migration, including Louisiana and the wider Caribbean. The surviving evidence in the excerpts points more to a French regional surname than to an English-origin name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older French onomastic works explicitly gloss Pitre as a form of Pierre, showing how a common biblical name can survive in a very shortened regional shape.
From the historical record
“toun, oil). Pitrat, Pitre, Pitrou. Pitre est une forme de Piter {Pierre, flam.). Les autres paraissent en dériver. Pittard, Pittaud, Pittet, Pit- tié, Pittois. F. de Pittard, Pitet,”
— Dictionnaire des noms (French surnames)