The Putney surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 3,065 people carried this name — #10,480 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 96,200 people counted. That is up 1% from 3,027 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Putney surname

From Old English personal name Putta, genitive case Puttan + hȳþ (“landing place”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Putney» (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 Putney’.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 627 · public domain.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

31 Putney families were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 178 people lived in those households, 5.7 to a family on average. 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

New Hampshire 13
Massachusetts 8
New York 4
Virginia 4
Maine 1
North Carolina 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. 258 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Putney in American newspapers,
1871–1922.

Newspaper page from The Evening Telegraph carrying the name Putney
The Evening Telegraph 1871-04-01
Newspaper page from Tonopah Daily Bonanza carrying the name Putney
Tonopah Daily Bonanza 1918-09-04
Newspaper page from Baptist Courier carrying the name Putney
Baptist Courier 1922-03-23

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 84,681 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Putney in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1960s.

1,045 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Putney. The most, 203, 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 New South Wales, at 1.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 600
Queensland 264
Victoria 110
South Australia 40
Tasmania 16
Western Australia 11
Northern Territory 1

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

Who carried it

People named Putney,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Lyman Knight Putney
    Lyman Knight Putney 1833–1902 · politician
  • Lacey E. Putney
    Lacey E. Putney 1928–2017 · politician
  • Eva Putney d. 1920
  • Snell Putney 1929–2009 · writer
  • Michael Putney 1946–2014 · Catholic bishop

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 Putney,
in the records of 3 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 States282 records

282 records of the Putney name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 89
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 56
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 56
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 56
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 11
  • Sacramento County historic burials 9
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 3
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  • 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 Ralph C. Putney

    Born 1923 in Connecticut. Enlisted 1943 at Hartford; sales clerk from New Haven County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1996, buried at Alder Brook Cemetery, Guilford, Connecticut.

    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 Eugene Howard Putney

    Born 1930; from Montrose County, Colorado. U.S. Army, light weapons infantryman; declared dead 1951 in South Korea.

    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 Rose Putney

    Arrived at New York in 1880 aboard the City of Montreal from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 24. From Ireland.

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

Showing 3 of 282 records for Putney 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) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · 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).

Australia27 records

27 records of the Putney name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 15
  • Tasmanian Names Index 8
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 3
  • State Library of Western Australia 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 Mary Anne Putney

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Diana, arriving 1833; certificate of freedom 1839.

    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 Henry Putney

    Arrived in Victoria in 1854 aboard the Fulwood, aged 35; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record William Putney

    Left Launceston in 1848 aboard the I Don¿t Know, bound for Sydney, as a seaman.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 27 records for Putney in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (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); Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0).

Canada4 records

4 records of the Putney name in Canada
  • City of Niagara Falls (Ontario) cemetery records 3
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 1
  1. 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 William George Putney

    Died in service in 1944.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Daisy Putney

    Buried in 1992 at Fairview Cemetery, Niagara Falls, Ontario.

    City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls.

Showing 2 of 4 records for Putney in Canada.

Counts: City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Putney.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Putney 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 Putney volume
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