The Pendleton surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 16,751 people carried this name — #2,168 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 17,600 people counted. That is up 5% from 16,026 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Pendleton surname

An English habitational surname from the places in England.

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

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘of Pendleton’.

An early record he cites: Thomas de Penelton, 1379 — Poll Tax, West Riding of Yorkshire.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 595 · public domain.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

68 families named Pendleton, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 438 people lived in those households, 6.4 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 5 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

North Carolina 21
Rhode Island 15
Maine 14
Virginia 10
Connecticut 5
Massachusetts 2
New York 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 256 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Pendleton in American newspapers,
1868–1890.

Newspaper page from The Daily Gate City carrying the name Pendleton
The Daily Gate City 1868-07-09
Newspaper page from The Evening Argus carrying the name Pendleton
The Evening Argus 1868-07-08
Newspaper page from Fort Worth Weekly Gazette carrying the name Pendleton
Fort Worth Weekly Gazette 1890-12-25

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 436,649 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Pendleton in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1960s.

11,249 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Pendleton. The most, 3,614, date from the 1900s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in South Australia, at 4.9 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

South Australia 7,185
New South Wales 1,675
Victoria 1,146
Queensland 648
Western Australia 437
Tasmania 112
Northern Territory 21
ACT (Canberra) 9

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

Who carried it

People named Pendleton,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Edmund Pendleton
    Edmund Pendleton 1721–1803 · judge
  • Henry Pendleton d. 1557 · writer
  • Georg Marion Pendleton d. 1932 · botanical collector
  • Philip Pendleton d. 1753
  • Brian Pendleton d. 2022
  • James Alden Pendleton d. 1883

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Pendleton,
in the records of 6 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 States1,306 records

1,306 records of the Pendleton name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 580
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 307
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 247
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 59
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 52
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 50
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 4
  • Sacramento County historic burials 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record James F. Pendleton

    Born 1925 in Tennessee. Enlisted 1944 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi; meat cutter from Robertson County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1980, buried at Nashville National Cemetery, Tennessee.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record George Pendleton

    Born 1944; from Miami, Florida. U.S. Army, infantryman; died of wounds 1966 in South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Jane Pendleton

    Arrived at New York in 1850 aboard the Abeona from Liverpool, aged 46; laborer. From Ireland.

    U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain)

Showing 3 of 1,306 records for Pendleton in the United States.

Counts: 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 · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia138 records

138 records of the Pendleton name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 108
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 12
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 7
  • Tasmanian Names Index 6
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 5
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Elizabeth Pendleton

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Hindostan, sailing from London in 1839. Native of Liverpool, Lancashire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1840. Married 1840 in Launceston, Tasmania, aged 42.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (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 Margaret Pendleton

    Arrived in Queensland in 1930 aboard the Oronsay, aged 30.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record William H. Pendleton

    Former tobacco worker of Fairfield, Victoria; died 1943.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 138 records for Pendleton in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Canada12 records

12 records of the Pendleton name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 6
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 5
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Frank Hove Pendleton

    Died 1999; buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, British Columbia.

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

    Died 1959 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 Merlyn Winston Sylvester Pendleton

    Died in service in 1944.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 12 records for Pendleton in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. 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).

United Kingdom11 records

11 records of the Pendleton name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. Pendleton

    Corporal, Lancashire Fusiliers. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record T. Pendleton

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

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

Showing 2 of 11 records for Pendleton in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

New Zealand2 records

2 records of the Pendleton name in New Zealand Christchurch City cemetery records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Samuel Sinson Pendleton

    Died 1942, aged 78; buried at Bromley Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Emily Jane Pendleton

    Died 1942, aged 74; buried at Bromley Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Netherlands2 records

2 records of the Pendleton name in the Netherlands Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths)
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record James Arnold Pendleton

    Died 1947 in Rotterdam, aged 36.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Leonard Pendleton

    Married in 1948 in Eindhoven.

    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: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Pendleton.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Pendleton 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.

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