Pontifex Surname

681,965th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 436 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Australia
Highest density in:
Australia

Pontifex Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the pontiff.' A Latinization like Faber; compare Pope, Pape, Cardinal, Bishop.

Adam Pontif, Norfolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Richard Pontif, Yorkshire, ibid.

Pontifex Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Australia2261:119,45013,170
United States611:5,941,950288,805
England531:1,051,28451,324
Canada461:800,99162,809
New Zealand201:226,41621,878
Hungary81:1,227,03553,030
Trinidad and Tobago61:227,32910,175
Brazil61:35,679,055486,536
Israel11:8,557,634182,558
New Caledonia11:276,22310,363
Greece11:11,079,790145,225
Qatar11:2,357,99976,403
Scotland11:5,353,81763,002
Switzerland11:8,212,915156,297
United Arab Emirates11:9,162,273135,437
China11:1,367,321,56651,149
Wales11:3,094,53244,023
Barbados11:287,4482,772
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England681:358,46122,559
Scotland71:534,74514,325

Pontifex Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the pontiff.' A Latinization like Faber; compare Pope, Pape, Cardinal, Bishop.

Adam Pontif, Norfolk, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Richard Pontif, Yorkshire, ibid.

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

(Anglo-Latin) Pontiff (a nickname and pageant-name) [Latin pontifex, a high priest; in Late Latin, a bishop, the pope]

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

Perhaps one of the XVI. century latinizations. Bruckenbauer, (Bridge-builder) is a well-known German surname. The name is derived, says Varro, "a pontem facieudo, quia sublicius pons (a bridge of piles) a pontificibus factus est primum, et restitutus saepe." A sacred magistrate among the Romans; a pontiff or high priest. Ainsworth.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

From the Danish, Pontavice; a personal name.

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

Pontifex Last Name Facts

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

The last name Pontifex occurs more in Australia more than any other country or territory. It may be rendered in the variant forms:. Click here to see other potential spellings of this name.

How Common Is The Last Name Pontifex? popularity and diffusion

This surname is the 681,965th most widespread family name internationally, borne by approximately 1 in 16,714,555 people. The last name Pontifex occurs mostly in Oceania, where 57 percent of Pontifex are found; 56 percent are found in Australasia and 56 percent are found in Australia and New Zealand.

The last name Pontifex is most commonly used in Australia, where it is held by 226 people, or 1 in 119,450. In Australia it is mostly found in: South Australia, where 41 percent live, Western Australia, where 21 percent live and Victoria, where 16 percent live. Without taking into account Australia this surname is found in 17 countries. It is also found in The United States, where 14 percent live and England, where 12 percent live.

Pontifex Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The incidence of Pontifex has changed over time. In England the number of people bearing the Pontifex last name contracted 22 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Scotland it contracted 86 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Pontifex Last Name Statistics demography

In The United States those holding the Pontifex last name are 46.77% more likely to be registered Democrats than the national average, with 100% registered to vote for the political party.

The amount Pontifex earn in different countries varies somewhat. In United States they earn 6.49% less than the national average, earning $40,347 USD per year and in Canada they earn 1.14% less than the national average, earning $49,117 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Pontifes88323/
Pontifix886/
Pontifax880/
Pontifice82500/
Pontifise825/
Pontifece823/
Pontifect821/
Pontifiche782/
Pontifis7518/
Pontyfix752/
Pontefix750/
Pontífice71116/
Pontefice7194/

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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 Pontifex
  • 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