Skip to main content

Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • French and English : topographic name for someone who lived in the main market square of a town or village, from Middle English, Old French place (Late Latin platea (via) ‘broad street’, ‘free public open space in a town’).
  • French and English : from Middle English, Old French plaise ‘plaice’, ‘flatfish’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman or a seller of these fish, or perhaps a nickname for someone thought to resemble a flatfish.
  • French and English : topographic name for someone who lived near a quickset fence, from Middle English, Old French pleis (Latin plexum, past participle of plectere ‘to plait or weave’).

Join the Family

Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.

Subscribe