The Pleasant surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,378 people carried this name — #4,791 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 40,000 people counted. That is up 6% from 6,967 in 2000.

Look up another surname

Share

What the name means

The meaning of the Pleasant surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Pleasant’ — the first of the origins he gives.

An early record he cites: Robert Pleasaunce, rector of Boldon, 1655 — History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham (Surtees).

His entry covers Pleasant and Pleasance.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 610 · public domain.

In print

Pleasant in American newspapers,
1900–1901.

Newspaper page from Daily Inter Mountain carrying the name Pleasant
Daily Inter Mountain 1900-12-28
Newspaper page from Daily Inter Mountain carrying the name Pleasant
Daily Inter Mountain 1901-01-11
Newspaper page from Daily Inter Mountain carrying the name Pleasant
Daily Inter Mountain 1901-01-04

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Pleasant in Australian newspapers,
1820s–1990s.

5,503 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Pleasant. The most, 665, date from the 1930s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 1.5 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 1,902
New South Wales 1,868
Queensland 617
South Australia 554
Western Australia 280
Tasmania 237
ACT (Canberra) 22
Northern Territory 4

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

Who carried it

People named Pleasant,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Mary Ellen Pleasant
    Mary Ellen Pleasant 1814–1904 · entrepreneur
  • Mary Ellen Pleasant
    Mary Ellen Pleasant 1817–1904 · entrepreneur
  • Ruffin Pleasant
    Ruffin Pleasant 1871–1937 · politician
  • Hazen Hayes Pleasant 1876–1958 · writer
  • Evelyn Pleasant 1908–
  • Ray Pleasant 1928–2022 · politician

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 Pleasant,
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 States424 records

424 records of the Pleasant name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 240
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 114
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 47
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 10
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 6
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 4
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 2
  • Sacramento County historic burials 1
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record William Andrew Pleasant

    Born 1942; from Jersey City, New Jersey. U.S. Army, medical specialist; killed in action 1965 in South Vietnam. Buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    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 Brent Pleasant

    Born 1917 in West Virginia. Enlisted 1942 at Huntington; mason from Kanawha County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1999, buried at Kanawha Valley Memorial Gardens, Glasgow, West Virginia.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Randall Pleasant

    Arrived at New York in 1869 aboard the City of Antwerp from Liverpool, aged 38; miner. From England.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 424 records for Pleasant in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). 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); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Canada57 records

57 records of the Pleasant name in Canada Nova Scotia Archives name indexes
  1. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record Robert Pleasant

    Left New York in 1783 aboard the Esther, bound for Port Roseway, aged 30.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  2. 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 Wallace James Pleasant

    Served in the No. 2 Construction Battalion in the First World War, private; of Weymouth Falls, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Adelia Mary Pleasant

    Died 1953 in Weymouth, Digby, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 3 of 57 records for Pleasant in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Australia10 records

10 records of the Pleasant name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 9
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 1
  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 James Pleasant

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Shipley, arriving 1817.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Sarah Pleasant

    Arrived in Victoria in 1857 aboard the Escort, aged 35; English.

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

    Arrived in Victoria in 1853 aboard the Chowringhee, aged 31.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 10 records for Pleasant in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY). 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).

United Kingdom2 records

2 records of the Pleasant name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 1
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 1
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Fanny Maw Pleasant

    Buried in 1804 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 29.

    MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. S. Pleasant

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

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

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

New Zealand1 record

1 record of the Pleasant 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 Aaron Pleasant

    Died 1912; buried at Rutherford 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).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Pleasant.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Pleasant 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 Pleasant volume
Scroll to Top