Given name & surname · also Old French
Armistead
“hermit”
Armistead is a surname from Old French (ultimately Old English).
Meaning & origin
What it means
Armistead goes back to Old French eremite, meaning “hermit.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Armistead comes from Old French, and ultimately from Old English.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Old French eremite (“hermit”), from Old English stede (“place”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1909. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Armistead through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 62
- 62 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1926
- 9 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1957. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 9 in 1926. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 103 as a first name in 2020; 2,495 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Armistead’s family of names
In English usage, Armistead as a surname has a related form in ARMSTEAD. In English usage, Armistead as a surname has a related form in ARMSTEAD. In English usage, Armistead as a surname has a related form in ARMITSTEAD.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Armistead
- Armistead MaupinAmerican writerborn 1944
- Armistead Thomson MasonAmerican politician (1787-1819)
- Armistead BurtAmerican politician (1802-1883)
- Armistead C. GordonAmerican writer1855–1931
- Armistead Seldenpolitician and United States Navy officer (1921-1985)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Armistead, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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