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Surname Etymology and Meaning of PLACE

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Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

1. topographic name for someone who lived in the main market square of a town or village, from Middle English, Old French place (Late Latin platea (via) ‘broad street’, ‘free public open space in a town’).
2. from Middle English, Old French plaise ‘plaice’, ‘flatfish’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a fisherman or a seller of these fish, or perhaps a nickname for someone thought to resemble a flatfish.
3. topographic name for someone who lived near a quickset fence, from Middle English, Old French pleis (Latin plexum, past participle of plectere ‘to plait or weave’).

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)