Explore the Family Name Potier

The meaning of Potier

French: occupational name for a maker of drinking and storage vessels, from potier ‘potter’, an agent derivative of Old French pot ‘drinking vessel’. In North America, the surname Potier is also an altered form of its less common French variant Pothier. It is also found in England, as a surname of Huguenot origin. Compare Pottier. Some characteristic forenames: French Marcel, Monique, Raoul. Irish Murphy.

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

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

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Potier has seen a decrease in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked 33,782 in popularity with 636 individuals carrying this last name. By 2010, the rank dropped to 37,544 and the count decreased to 593, representing about a 7% decrease. The proportion of individuals with this surname per 100,000 also decreased by approximately 17% during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#33,782	#37,544	-11.14%
Count	636	593	-6.76%
Proportion per 100k	0.24	0.2	-16.67%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Potier

The ethnic identity associated with the surname Potier also shifted slightly over the same decade, according to the Decennial U.S. Census data. No individuals identifying as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native carried this last name in either 2000 or 2010. The percentage of individuals identifying as White and carrying the Potier surname decreased by about 5%. However, there was a notable increase of 42% in the Hispanic community and an almost 7% increase among those who identified as Black. The number of individuals identifying with two or more races decreased by nearly 20%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	57.23%	54.3%	-5.12%
Black	38.84%	41.48%	6.8%
Hispanic	1.42%	2.02%	42.25%
Two or More Races	1.89%	1.52%	-19.58%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%