Flett Surname
Approximately 8,144 people bear this surname
Flett Surname Definition:
An Orcadian surname usually considered to be derived from the place name Flett in the parish of Delting, Shetland. Mr. J. S. Clouston, however, says this name "which occurs several times as a nickname in the Sagas (once being in Orkney), and which is not associated with any land so-called" is a nickname "It is markedly the case with the chief landed families of the later Norse period," he says, "that they can invariably be proved to have owned the property from which they took their name.
Read More About This SurnameFlett Surname Distribution Map
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 2,664 | 1:13,831 | 2,040 |
| Australia | 1,234 | 1:21,877 | 3,024 |
| Scotland | 1,228 | 1:4,360 | 754 |
| United States | 1,167 | 1:310,590 | 28,474 |
| England | 1,010 | 1:55,166 | 6,703 |
| New Zealand | 576 | 1:7,862 | 1,334 |
| South Africa | 76 | 1:712,865 | 50,752 |
| Ireland | 34 | 1:138,498 | 6,546 |
| Germany | 33 | 1:2,439,559 | 124,421 |
| Northern Ireland | 23 | 1:80,219 | 5,468 |
| Spain | 11 | 1:4,250,185 | 75,241 |
| Venezuela | 11 | 1:2,745,825 | 29,869 |
| Swaziland | 9 | 1:144,244 | 719 |
| Austria | 8 | 1:1,064,429 | 75,134 |
| Wales | 8 | 1:386,816 | 19,671 |
| Brazil | 6 | 1:35,679,055 | 486,536 |
| Thailand | 5 | 1:14,127,669 | 603,945 |
| Sweden | 3 | 1:3,282,252 | 190,759 |
| Denmark | 3 | 1:1,881,572 | 67,227 |
| Malaysia | 3 | 1:9,831,408 | 269,765 |
| Afghanistan | 2 | 1:16,076,592 | 43,178 |
| Ecuador | 2 | 1:7,952,923 | 34,269 |
| United Arab Emirates | 2 | 1:4,581,136 | 93,443 |
| Philippines | 2 | 1:50,619,112 | 341,003 |
| Norway | 2 | 1:2,571,143 | 95,402 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 1:8,443,588 | 136,641 |
| Mexico | 2 | 1:62,063,102 | 83,384 |
| Azerbaijan | 2 | 1:4,824,561 | 42,415 |
| France | 2 | 1:33,211,361 | 423,184 |
| Bahrain | 1 | 1:1,348,608 | 10,432 |
| China | 1 | 1:1,367,321,566 | 51,149 |
| Tanzania | 1 | 1:52,941,613 | 123,716 |
| Switzerland | 1 | 1:8,212,915 | 156,297 |
| South Korea | 1 | 1:51,240,256 | 8,015 |
| Russia | 1 | 1:144,123,056 | 881,408 |
| Cyprus | 1 | 1:884,876 | 13,055 |
| Jersey | 1 | 1:99,202 | 6,620 |
| Japan | 1 | 1:127,844,293 | 73,547 |
| Iran | 1 | 1:76,782,524 | 277,718 |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 1:7,335,483 | 16,643 |
| Guyana | 1 | 1:762,221 | 14,420 |
| Czechia | 1 | 1:10,633,469 | 206,023 |
| El Salvador | 1 | 1:6,343,888 | 8,415 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | 6 | 1:738,311 | 21,113 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 1,146 | 1:3,266 | 549 |
| England | 156 | 1:156,252 | 13,619 |
| Wales | 1 | 1:1,568,416 | 19,290 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 148 | 1:339,315 | 26,182 |
Flett (14) may also be a first name.
Flett Surname Meaning
From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history
An Orcadian surname usually considered to be derived from the place name Flett in the parish of Delting, Shetland. Mr. J. S. Clouston, however, says this name "which occurs several times as a nickname in the Sagas (once being in Orkney), and which is not associated with any land so-called" is a nickname "It is markedly the case with the chief landed families of the later Norse period," he says, "that they can invariably be proved to have owned the property from which they took their name. For this reason alone," he adds, "I would reject a land explanation of Flett, even though there may be (as I think has been stated) a place or places of that name. The family was at one time of such importance that, if they had ever been 'of Flett' we should have evidence of it" (Old Lore Misc., V, p. 64—65) Kolbein Flaet was one of those who laid charges against David Meyner of Weem in 1427 (Oppressions, p. 110). The name of Ioni Blatto, one of the prominent man of Orkney at the same date (op. cit., p. 109) is considered to be a mis-spelling of Flett. Mawnus Flet, witness in Kirkwall, 1480, and Jhone Fleytt of Hare was member of assize in Orkney, 1509 (OSR., I, p. 53,252). William Flet of Howbister is mentioned in 1516 (SCM., V, p. 395). George Flett, 'sartor in parochia de Orpher,' was retoured heir of Robert Flett, 'mercator in villa de Kirkwall,' 1665 (Retours, Orkney, 98). Sir John S. Flett, Director of the Geological Survey, is probably the most distinguished bearer of the name in record. Fflait and Flait 1677, Flete 1506. The Shetland place name Flet is derived by Jakobsen from ON. flotr, a strip of arable or grass-land.
(English) perh. a weak form of Fleet, q.v.; but note Dialectal English flett, a scolding (Old English flit, strife); also Old English flett, a hall]
User-submitted Reference
The name can still be found in Scandinavia as Flette. You can ask a hairdresser to "flette" your hair. It means put it in braids. As the Norse like many at the same time gave people a name commensurate with their looks or their trade or place in life, or tribe the name Flett came from someone (probably more than one) who was noted for braiding their hair. There have been several attempts to harness the name to the word flat. At one time it was thought to come from the flat platform at the stern of a longship or the flat land in a Fjord and even use by Tolkein in the form of flet to describe the platforms built into the trees which the elves lived on in Lord of the Rings. The idea that it came from a place name in the northern isles is spurious as that is just another corruption of an idea that it comes from flat. In fact it is most likely that it is the other way around - flett became corrupted to flat. Flett is simply flette (braided hair) with the e knocked off and really has nothing to do with geography.
- artlochfergusFlett Demographics
Average Male Flett Height
178.41 cm
Sample is predominantly from Anglosphere countries
Flett Last Name Facts
Where Does The Last Name Flett Come From? nationality or country of origin
The surname Flett (Russian: Флетт) occurs in Canada more than any other country/territory. It can also be rendered as a variant:. Click here for further possible spellings of this name.
How Common Is The Last Name Flett? popularity and diffusion
This last name is the 61,739th most commonly occurring last name world-wide, borne by around 1 in 894,836 people. Flett occurs predominantly in The Americas, where 47 percent of Flett live; 47 percent live in North America and 47 percent live in Anglo-North America. It is also the 3,024,661st most frequently used given name worldwide, held by 14 people.
The last name is most widespread in Canada, where it is held by 2,664 people, or 1 in 13,831. In Canada Flett is primarily concentrated in: Manitoba, where 49 percent reside, Alberta, where 17 percent reside and Ontario, where 16 percent reside. Outside of Canada it exists in 42 countries. It is also found in Australia, where 15 percent reside and Scotland, where 15 percent reside.
Flett Family Population Trend historical fluctuation
The prevalency of Flett has changed through the years. In Scotland the number of people who held the Flett last name expanded 107 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it expanded 789 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it expanded 647 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Ireland it expanded 567 percent between 1901 and 2014 and in Wales it expanded 800 percent between 1881 and 2014.
Flett Last Name Statistics demography
The religious adherence of those holding the surname is primarily Presbyterian (100%) in Ireland.
In The United States those bearing the Flett last name are 19.45% more likely to be registered Republicans than The US average, with 66.22% being registered with the political party.
The amount Flett earn in different countries varies significantly. In South Africa they earn 9.59% more than the national average, earning R 260,436 per year; in United States they earn 1.86% more than the national average, earning $43,953 USD per year and in Canada they earn 19.19% less than the national average, earning $40,148 CAD per year.
Phonetically Similar Names
Flett Name Transliterations
| Transliteration | ICU Latin | Percentage of Incidence |
|---|---|---|
| Flett in the Russian language | ||
| Флетт | flett | - |
Search for Another Surname
Flett Reference & Research
Flatt/Flett/Vliet FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.
The name statistics are still in development, sign up for information on more maps and data
Footnotes
- Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
- Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
- Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
- Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
- Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
- Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
- Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Flett
- To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on FamilySearch, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis