Explore the Family Name Flett

The meaning of Flett

Scottish: probably a habitational name from a place in the parish of Delting, Shetland, named with an Old Norse term denoting a strip of arable land or pasture. On the other hand it may be from the Old Norse byname Fljótr ‘swift, speedy’. Compare Fleet 2. The surname is now most common in Banffshire and Orkney.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Flett in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Flett saw a slight decrease in ranking from 2000 to 2010, falling from 26,306th to 27,081st place, a change of -2.95%. However, the total count of individuals with this surname increased by 2.41%, from 873 in 2000 to 894 in 2010. The proportion per 100,000 also experienced a decrease of -6.25%, moving from 0.32 in 2000 to 0.3 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#26,306	#27,081	-2.95%
Count	873	894	2.41%
Proportion per 100k	0.32	0.3	-6.25%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Flett

Shifting focus to ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority of individuals with the surname Flett identified as White, although this percentage decreased slightly from 80.64% in 2000 to 75.73% in 2010. There was a notable increase in those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native, moving up from 14.55% in 2000 to 18.57% in 2010. Those reporting as having two or more ethnic identities also increased significantly, rising by 53.01% from 1.83% in 2000 to 2.80% in 2010. Conversely, the Hispanic population within this surname group marginally decreased from 2.18% in 2000 to 2.01% in 2010. No individuals with the Flett surname identified as Black or Asian/Pacific Islander in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	80.64%	75.73%	-6.09%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	14.55%	18.57%	27.63%
Two or More Races	1.83%	2.8%	53.01%
Hispanic	2.18%	2.01%	-7.8%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%