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Plater Family History

Plater Surname Meaning

English:: occupational name for a maker of plate armor or armor-plates from an agent derivative of Middle English plate ‘armor-plate’.

from an agent derivative of Old French plait ‘plea’ or plaitier ‘to plead’ hence an occupational name or nickname for an advocate.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


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Where is the Plater family from?

You can see how Plater families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Plater family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Plater families were found in United Kingdom in 1891. In 1911 there were 11 Plater families living in Ontario. This was about 31% of all the recorded Plater's in Canada. Ontario had the highest population of Plater families in 1911.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Plater surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
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What did your Plater ancestors do for a living?

In 1921, Farmer was the top reported job for people in the Canada named Plater. 86% of Plater men worked as a Farmer.

View Census Data for Plater | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1921

  • Farmer
    86%
  • Laborer
    15%

What Plater family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 19,000 census records available for the last name Plater. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Plater census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search Canadian census records for Plater

Passenger Lists

There are 1,000 immigration records available for the last name Plater. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in Canada, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

View all Plater immigration records

Draft Cards

There are 1,000 military records available for the last name Plater. For the veterans among your Plater ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

View all Plater military records

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