Plante
A surname that usually began as a French name for someone associated with a plant or planting, and sometimes reflects a topographic or descriptive nickname.
The #4,583 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,869 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Plante is most naturally explained from French plante, meaning “plant” or “seedling,” ultimately from Latin planta, “sprout, cutting, plant.” As a surname, it may have been given to someone who grew plants, lived by a notable planting place, or had a name built from the ordinary French word for a plant. In some cases it could also have developed as a nickname or as part of a longer French name with similar plant imagery.
History
Medieval and early modern records show forms such as Plante in England and France, suggesting a French surname carried across the Channel. The name is also found in North American records, especially in communities with French or French-Canadian ancestry. Because the historical sources are cautious or incomplete, the surname is best treated as a broadly French name with more than one possible path of origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same Latin root that lies behind Plante also gave English the word plant itself.
From the historical record
“PLANTEROSE (A..Fr.-Lat.) Rose-Grovter [Fr. plante, he plants; f. Lat. planta, a plant -j- Fr. rose, Lat. rosa, a rose] John Plaunterose. — Hund. Rolls.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)