Porter Name Origin, Meaning and Family History

Porter Name Meaning: An occupational name for a gatekeeper (either a walled town, walled city, monastery, castle, etc).

From the Old French \"portier\", PORTER is an occupational name for a gatekeeper (either a walled town, walled city, monastery, castle, etc). Those who were given the position of porter were also usually given accomodation and privileges.

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Surname Distribution

Census frequency by county

Name Concentrations Within England and Wales

Porter Surname Statistics


Top Professions for the Porter family

Profession Census Frequency
Scholar 3,022
Agricultural Labourer 519
Labourer 354
Domestic Servant 170
General Servant 152
Dress Maker 132
House Keeper 116
Cotton Weaver 111
Laundress 103
Servant 98
Coal Miner 90
Carpenter 86
Annuitant 75
Gardener 72
Farm Labourer 63
Tailor 61
Shoe Maker 54
Grocer 47
Blacksmith 46
Joiner 46
Dressmaker 44
Nurse 44
Butcher 43
Wife Of Above 42
Farm Servant 39

Porter Surname Variants Ranking

Rank Surname Match Census Frequency
1 Porter 100% 153,311
2 Prater 67% 2,928
3 Parter 83% 2,242
4 Portor 83% 999
5 Preater 57% 872
6 Peartree 50% 768
7 Priter 67% 191
8 Proter 67% 191
9 Perter 83% 183
10 Portter 86% 107
11 Preator 43% 102

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The surname Porter is the most popular version of all its varients

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