Explore the Family Name Petion

The meaning of Petion

French and Haitian (Pétion): diminutive of Petit. This surname was brought to the US from Haiti, where it is by far most common.

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

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

According to the data based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Petion has seen an increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it ranked as the 46,083rd most popular surname; by 2010, it had risen to the 34,223rd spot, marking an improvement of approximately 25.74%. In terms of actual count, the number of individuals bearing the surname Petion also rose from 436 in 2000 to 663 in 2010, an increase of 52.06%. Consequently, the proportion per 100,000 people increased by 37.5%, from 0.16 to 0.22.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#46,083	#34,223	25.74%
Count	436	663	52.06%
Proportion per 100k	0.16	0.22	37.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Petion

When looking at the ethnic identity associated with the surname Petion, it's clear that there have been some changes between 2000 and 2010, according to the Decennial U.S. Census. The largest group identifying with this surname is the Black community, which increased its representation from 79.59% in 2000 to 91.86% in 2010 - an increase of 15.42%. Meanwhile, the percentage of those who identify as White or as belonging to two or more races decreased significantly, by 65.72% and 68.86% respectively. Hispanic representation also fell marginally by 19.42%. There was no data available for Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native groups, possibly due to suppression for privacy reasons.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	79.59%	91.86%	15.42%
Two or More Races	13.07%	4.07%	-68.86%
White	5.28%	1.81%	-65.72%
Hispanic	2.06%	1.66%	-19.42%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%