The Pappas surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 16,559 people carried this name — #2,198 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 17,800 people counted. That is down 1% from 16,754 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Pappas surname

From Greek παπάς (papás, “priest”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Pappas» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 30 people named Pappas.

15 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 8 départements, most often Isère.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 15
Isère 3
Loire 3
Haute-Garonne 2
Hérault 2
Seine-Maritime 2
Paris 1
Hauts-de-Seine 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

30 people named Pappas live in Switzerland.

They live in 4 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Zurich 16
Geneva 6
Solothurn 5
St. Gallen 3

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In the Nordic population registers

79 people named Pappas is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 79

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).

In print

Pappas in American newspapers,
1909–1921.

Newspaper page from New Hampshire Farmer And Weekly Union carrying the name Pappas
New Hampshire Farmer And Weekly Union 1909-05-19
Newspaper page from Daily Kennebec Journal carrying the name Pappas
Daily Kennebec Journal 1915-07-12
Newspaper page from Great Falls Tribune carrying the name Pappas
Great Falls Tribune 1921-01-30

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 22,098 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Pappas in Australian newspapers,
1900s–2000s.

910 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Pappas. The most, 302, date from the 1940s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in the Australian Capital Territory, at 1.5 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 406
Victoria 151
Queensland 149
ACT (Canberra) 86
Western Australia 53
South Australia 43
Tasmania 12
Northern Territory 3

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Pappas.

Who carried it

People named Pappas,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Emmanouil Papas
    Emmanouil Papas 1772–1821 · military personnel
  • Milt Pappas
    Milt Pappas 1939–2016 · baseball player

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped — Emmanouil Papas: No machine-readable author provided. Gepsimos assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/); Milt Pappas: Keith Allison: Flickr, e-mail, Twitter, Instagram, website, CC BY-SA 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0) · 88 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Pappas,
in the records of 5 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States2,581 records

2,581 records of the Pappas name in the United States
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 1,145
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 692
  • Other U.S. records 744
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Don Lee Pappas

    Born 1949; from Santa Clara, California. U.S. Army, pioneer; died in an accident 1970 in Binh Dinh, South Vietnam. Buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery, California.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record John A. Pappas

    Born 1910 in Illinois. Enlisted 1942 at Chicago; driver from Cook County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1988, buried at Camp Butler National Cemetery, Illinois.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Peter T. Pappas

    U.S. Army veteran of World War I. Born 1889, died 1966; buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery, California.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 2,581 records for Pappas in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · Ramsey County, Minnesota (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Australia31 records

31 records of the Pappas name in Australia
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 21
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 9
  • Canberra cemetery and marriage records 1
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record John Pappas

    Carpenter of Kew, Victoria; died 1973.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Niclos Pappas

    Arrived in Victoria in 1909 aboard the Zieten, aged 65.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Giasmin Pappas

    Died 1992; buried at Gungahlin Cemetery, Canberra, ACT.

    ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 31 records for Pappas in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Canada27 records

27 records of the Pappas name in Canada
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 11
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 5
  • Other Canadian records 11
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Elias Pappas

    Buried in 1976 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 69.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record George Pappas

    Died 1942 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record W. Pappas

    Central Ontario Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 27 records for Pappas in Canada.

Counts: City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

France12 records

12 records of the Pappas name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Jacqueline Claude Marguerite Pappas

    Born 1935 in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine); died 1993 in Grenoble (Isère).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Aristide Savas Pappas

    Born 1944 in Madagascar; died 1998 in Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  3. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Claude Guy Andre Pappas

    Born 1921 in Sainte-Adresse (Seine-Maritime); died 2001 in Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 3 of 12 records for Pappas in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Netherlands2 records

2 records of the Pappas name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch population registers 1
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 1
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Christos Pappas

    Married in 1947 in Utrecht.

    Open Archives, Het Utrechts Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Population register Demitrius Heracle Pappas

    In the population register of Nantes, France; born 1875 in Nantes, France.

    Open Archives, Brabants Historisch Informatie Centrum (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Pappas.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Pappas is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Pappas volume
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