Pickavant Surname

2,273,756th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 70 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
England

Pickavant Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'Prick-advance,' spur forward. We must not be tempted to refer these various forms to the pikedevant or piked beard. 'A young, pittivanted, trim-bearded fellow': Anatomy of Melancholy, Tegg's edit.

Read More About This Surname

Pickavant Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England671:831,61344,286
Hong Kong11:7,335,48316,643
Malaysia11:29,494,225409,885
Scotland11:5,353,81763,002
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England351:696,43933,013

Pickavant Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'Prick-advance,' spur forward. We must not be tempted to refer these various forms to the pikedevant or piked beard. 'A young, pittivanted, trim-bearded fellow': Anatomy of Melancholy, Tegg's edit.. Found in the portraits of courtiers in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was not an early enough fashion to be immortalized by a patronymic. 'Tis true the following entry occurs:

1600. Married — John Gibbs and Joan Pickedevant: St. James, Clerkenwell.

But the date itself would suffice to show that it was an imitation of the term for the then prevailing fashion. No doubt her real name was Pickavant. Prikeavant was, no doubt, the nickname of a harbinger, pursuivant, or herald, from prick; Middle English prike, to put spur to horse (compare 'kick against the pricks,' Auth. Vers.), and avance, forward, to the front. A herald was one who 'rode to the front.' The instances amply confirm this view:

William Prikeavant, Bedfordshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

1678. Buried — Simon Prickadvance: Reg. Peasmarsh, Sussex.

A similar surname is Sturtevant, which see.

Edward Pickavance, of Much Woolton, husbandman, 1662: Wills at Chester.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

(Anglo-French) 1 Spur Forward! (a nickname) [from French piquer, to prick, spur; avant, forward] Cp. William Prikeavant.—Hundred Rolls (occasionally, later) 2 With a Peaked Beard, such as was fashionable in the Shakespearean period [Late Anglo-French pickedeva(u)nt, French pique-devant, lit. ‘peak in front’] Pickavance is prob. really for the genit. form (Pickavants) of Pickavant.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

Pickavant Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Pickavant Come From? nationality or country of origin

The last name Pickavant is held by more people in England than any other country or territory. It can occur as:. Click here for further potential spellings of this last name.

How Common Is The Last Name Pickavant? popularity and diffusion

The last name Pickavant is the 2,273,756th most numerous last name world-wide It is held by approximately 1 in 104,107,799 people. This surname is primarily found in Europe, where 97 percent of Pickavant are found; 97 percent are found in Northern Europe and 97 percent are found in British Isles.

The surname Pickavant is most prevalent in England, where it is held by 67 people, or 1 in 831,613. In England Pickavant is mostly found in: Merseyside, where 30 percent are found, Cheshire, where 24 percent are found and Lancashire, where 24 percent are found. Besides England Pickavant occurs in 3 countries. It is also common in Hong Kong, where 1 percent are found and Malaysia, where 1 percent are found.

Pickavant Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Pickavant has changed over time. In England the number of people who held the Pickavant surname grew 191 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Pikavane8261/
Picawan759/
Pikawan758/
Picaban751/
Puckkawant744/
Pikawane712/
Pikhawan711/
Phikhawan674/
Pikoban632/
Pikawong592/
Pikouban591/
Phikhawon562/
Pekovanova531/
Phikhawong531/
Pecowan5011/

Search for Another Surname

The name statistics are still in development, sign up for information on more maps and data

By signing up to the mailing list you will only receive emails specifically about name reference on Forebears and your information will not be distributed to 3rd parties.

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 Pickavant
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis