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Pech Family History

Pech Surname Meaning

Czech and Slovak; Sorbian (Pěch and P'ech): from a pet form of the personal name Petr (Czech) Pětš (Lower Sorbian) and Peter (Slovak). This is also a Germanized form of the Upper Sorbian cognate Pjech.

German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German pech (German Pech) ‘pitch tar’ presumably a nickname for someone with exceptionally dark skin or hair or a metonymic occupational name for someone who prepared sold or used pitch. This may in part also be the origin of a homonymic Polish Czech and Slovak surname (compare above and below).

Jewish (Ashkenazic) Polish Czech and Slovak: nickname from German Pech or from the West Slavic loanword pech ‘bad luck’. Such is a figurative sense of words with the original meaning ‘pitch tar’ in some Slavic languages too (compare Smola).

Catalan: nickname from a variant of pec ‘simple naive’. Amerindian (Mexico Guatemala and Belize): Mayan name from pech ‘tick’ (a mite) and possibly also from a homonymous word meaning ‘bastard’.

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


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Where is the Pech family from?

You can see how Pech families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Pech family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Pech families were found in USA in 1920. In 1891 there were 15 Pech families living in London. This was about 19% of all the recorded Pech's in United Kingdom. London had the highest population of Pech families in 1891.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Pech 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 Pech ancestors do for a living?

In 1939, Fisherman and Unpaid Domestic Duties were the top reported jobs for men and women in the United Kingdom named Pech. 100% of Pech men worked as a Fisherman and 100% of Pech women worked as an Unpaid Domestic Duties.

View Census Data for Pech | 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 1939

  • Fisherman
    100%

Top Female Occupations In 1939

  • Unpaid Domestic Duties
    100%

What Pech family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 16,000 census records available for the last name Pech. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Pech census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

Search UK census records for Pech

Passenger Lists

There are 2,000 immigration records available for the last name Pech. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the UK, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

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Draft Cards

There are 2,000 military records available for the last name Pech. For the veterans among your Pech ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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What is the average Pech lifespan?

Between 1951 and 2004, in the United States, Pech life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1951, and highest in 1992. The average life expectancy for Pech in 1951 was 47, and 84 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Pech

An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Pech ancestors lived in harsh conditions. A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more.

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