Pitts
A surname that usually means “at the pit” or “by the pits,” with some cases also explained as a patronymic from Pitt.
The #693 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,207 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Pitts is generally treated as a plural or possessive form of Pitt. In the historical sources, Pitt is explained as a topographic name for someone who lived by a pit, hollow, or quarry-like depression, from Old English pyt(t), “pit.” In some families, the final -s may also be patronymic, functioning like “son of Pitt,” but the place-based explanation is the main one.
History
19th-century surname writers also connected Pitts with places or dwellings near pits and hollows, and one source explicitly tells the reader to see Pitt. The name is well established in England and later became more visible through notable bearers such as the Pitt family, including William Pitt the Elder and William Pitt the Younger. Some older works also suggest that a few examples may descend from Norman or family lines using related forms, so not every instance will have the same origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is linked to the same root as the modern English word pit, so its oldest sense is very literal: someone living by a pit or hollow.
From the historical record
“PITTS, genit., and pi., of Pitt, q.v. PITTWAY (Eng.) Dweller at the Pit-Way, i.e. the way to or by the pit [O.E. pyt{t + weg\ PIX, Pick's (Son) : v. Pick. PIXLEY (Eng.) Bel. to Pixley (Heref.), 13th cent. Pikesley = Pic's Lea [the pers. name”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)