Potter (surname)

Potter is an English surname that originally referred to someone who made pottery. It is occasionally used as a given name. People with the name include:

Surname

* Albert Potter (1897–1942), English footballer
* Alexandra Potter (born 1970), British author
* Alfie Potter (born 1989), English football player
* Alfred Potter (1827–1878), English clergyman and cricketer
* Allen Potter (1818–1885), American politician
* Alonzo Potter (1800–1865, Bishop of Pennsylvania
* A. J. Potter "Archie" (1918–1980), Irish composer
* Anice Potter Terhune (1873–1964), American author and composer
* Arnold Potter (1804–1872), American self-declared Messiah
* Art Potter (1909–1998), Canadian ice hockey administrator
* Barbara Potter (born 1961), American tennis player
* Barnaby Potter (1577–1642), Bishop of Carlisle
* Beatrix Potter (1866–1943), British children's writer
* Bert Potter (disambiguation), several people including:
** Bert Potter (composer) (1874–1930), American composer
* Beryl H. Potter (1900–1985), American astronomer
* Beryl Potter (d. 1998), Canadian disability rights activist
* Bill Potter (1872–1970), Australian footballer for Fitzroy
* Bill Potter (musician), country singer and television personality
* Brandon Potter (born 1982), American voice actor
* B. T. Potter (born 2000), American football player
* Carol Potter (poet), American poet
* Carol Potter (actress) (born 1948), American actress
*Cassandra Potter (born 1981), American curler
* Charles E. Potter (1916–1979), American politician
* Cherry Potter, British journalist
* Christopher Potter (disambiguation), several people, including:
** Christopher Potter (provost) (1591–1646), English academic and clergyman
** Christopher Potter (died 1817), MP for Colchester 1781–2 and 1784
** Chris Potter (priest) (born 1949), Dean and Archdeacon of St Asaph
** Christopher Potter (author) (born 1959), English author and publisher
** Chris Potter (actor) (born 1960), Canadian actor, musician and pitchman
** Chris Potter (jazz saxophonist) (born 1971), American jazz saxophonist and composer
** Chris Potter (record producer), British record producer and mixer
* Cipriani Potter (1792–1871) British composer, pianist and educator
* Clare Potter (1903–1999), American fashion designer
* Clarkson Nott Potter (1825–1882), American civil engineer, lawyer and politician
* Clayton D. Potter (1880–1924), Justice of the Supreme Court of Mississippi
* Craig Potter (born 1984), Scottish football player
* Cynthia Potter (born 1950), American diver
* Dale Potter (born 1949), Canadian football player
* Danny Potter (born 1979), English football player
* Darren Potter (born 1984), Irish football player
* David M. Potter (1910–1971), American historian
* Dennis Potter (1935–1994), British playwright
* Don Potter (1902–2004), British sculptor and potter
* Don Potter (musician), American musician
* Dora Joan Potter (1915–1987), Australian children's author
* Edmund Potter (1802–1883), British industrialist, MP for Carlisle, Beatrix Potter's grandfather
* Edward Clark Potter (1857–1923), American sculptor
* Edward Tuckerman Potter (1831–1904), American architect
* Elderkin Potter (1782–1845), American politician and lawyer from Ohio
* Elisha Reynolds Potter (1764–1835), American congressman from Rhode Island
* Elisha R. Potter (1811–1882), American congressman from Rhode Island, son of Elisha Reynolds Potter
* Emery D. Potter (1804–1896), American politician
* Frank Potter (aviator) (1891–1917), British flying ace
* Frank Potter (politician) (1919–1978), Australian politician
* Frank J. Potter (1871–1948), British architect
* Frederick Potter (1857–1941), New Zealand businessman
* Fuller Potter (1910–1990), American abstract expressionist artist
* George Potter (disambiguation), several people, including:
** George Potter (politician) (1883–1945), Australian politician
** George Richard Potter (1900–1982), British historian
* Gilbert Potter (1878–1921), Irish police officer
* Glenn Potter (born c. 1938), American basketball coach
* Graham Potter (born 1975), English footballer and manager
* Greg Potter, American comic book writer
* Harrison Potter (1891–1984), American pianist
* Henry Codman Potter (1835–1908), American clergyman
* Horatio Potter (1802–1887), American bishop
* Ian Potter (born 1968), British writer
* Jack Potter (born 1938), Australian cricketer
* James Potter (disambiguation), several people
* Jeff Potter (1941–2025), Australian rules footballer
* Jennie O'Neill Potter (1867–1900), American actor and dramatic reader
* Jenny Potter (born 1979), American ice hockey player
* John Potter (disambiguation), several people, including:
** John Potter (bishop) (c. 1674–1747), Archbishop of Canterbury
** John Potter (Liberal politician) (1815–1858), British Liberal politician
**John Potter (Conservative politician) (1873–1940), British Conservative politician
** John Potter (footballer) (born 1979), Scottish football player
** John E. Potter, American Postmaster General
** John F. Potter (1817–1899), American politician
** Jon Potter (born 1963), British field hockey player
** Jonathan Potter (born 1956), British professor and originator of discursive psychology
** Jonathan Potter (cricketer) (born 1971), English cricketer
** Jonathan Potter (computer programmer), Australian programmer
* Judith Potter (born 1942), New Zealand judge
* K.C. Potter (born 1939), American academic administrator and LGBT rights activist
* Kimberly Potter (born 1972), American police officer convicted of killing Daunte Wright
* Lauren Potter (born 1990), American actress
* Lela Brooks Potter (1908–1990), Canadian speed skater
* Luke Potter (born 1989), English football player
* Madeleine Potter (born 1958), American actress
* Maisie Potter (born 1997), Welsh snowboarder
* Mark Potter (sportscaster) (born 1960), Canadian sports broadcaster
* Mark Potter (judge) (born 1937), British judge
* Mark Potter (musician), British musician from the band Elbow
* Martin Potter (actor) (born 1944), British actor
* Martin Potter (surfer) (born 1965), British surfer
* Matthew Potter, Irish academic
* Maureen Potter (1925–2004), Irish actress
* Micah Potter (born 1998), American professional basketball player
* Michael Potter (disambiguation), several people, including:
** Michael Potter (immunologist) (1924–2013), American physician and immunologist
**Michael Potter (born 1963), Australian rugby league footballer and coach
** Mike Potter (racing driver) (1949–2022), American racecar driver
** Mike Potter (baseball) (born 1951), American baseball outfielder
** Michael Cressé Potter (1858–1948), English botanist, herbarium curator, and Anglican priest
* Mitch Potter (born 1980), American track and field athlete
* Monica Potter (born 1971), American actress
* Mary Potter (disambiguation), several people
* Nels Potter (1911–1999), American baseball player
* Nelson Thomas Potter Jr. (1939–2013), American philosopher
* Norm Potter (18??–1951), Australian rugby league footballer
* Orlando B. Potter (1823–1894), American politician
* Patricia Potter (born 1975), British actress
* Paulus Potter (1625–1654), Dutch painter
* Philip Potter (church leader) (1921–2015), Methodist minister
* Philip Potter (1936–2016), British opera singer
* Robert Brown Potter (1829–1887), American Civil War General
* Robert Potter (1909–2010), British architect
* Roger Potter (1907–1982), American basketball coach
* Ron Potter, Australian rugby league footballer
* Russell Potter (born 1960), American writer
*Ryan Potter (born 1995), American actor
* Sally Potter (born 1949), British film director and screenwriter
* Samuel J. Potter (1753–1804), American Senator
* Sarah Potter (born 1961), English cricketer
* Stephen Potter (disambiguation), several people, including:
** Stephen Potter (1900–1969), British author of self-help books
* Ted Potter (born 1944), Australian rules footballer
* Ted Potter Jr. (born 1983), American PGA Tour golfer
* Thomas Potter (disambiguation), several people, including:
**Thomas Potter (Universalist) (1689–1777), American Universalist
** Thomas Potter (industrialist) (1745–1811), Scottish-born Danish industrialist and merchant
**Thomas Potter (mayor) (1774–1845), mayor of Manchester, England, father of Thomas Bayley Potter
** Thomas Bayley Potter (1817–1898), British politician
** Thomas J. Potter (1840–1888), vice-president and general manager of the Union Pacific Railroad
** Thomas Rossell Potter (1799–1873), British naturalist
** Tom Potter (born 1940), Mayor of Portland, Oregon
** Tommy Potter (1918–1988), jazz double bass player
* Van Rensselaer Potter (1911–2001), American biochemist
* Vincent Potter (c. 1614–1661), army officer, Regicide of King Charles I
* William Potter (disambiguation), several people, including:
** William Appleton Potter (1842–1909), American architect
** William C. Potter, American scientist and professor
** William Everett Potter (1905–1988), Governor of Panama Canal Zone
** William Knight Potter (1844–1914), businessman and mayor of Providence, Rhode Island
** William P. Potter, American naval commander
** William Simpson Potter (1805–1879), British author
** William W. Potter (Michigan politician) (1869–1940), American politician
** William Wilson Potter (1792–1839), American politician

Given name

* Potter P. Howard ( 1947–1951), mayor of Boise, Idaho
* Potter Palmer (1826–1902), American businessman and Chicago-area developer
* Potter Stewart (1915–1985), Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. His opinion in the '' Jacobellis v. Ohio'' obscenity trial popularized the phrase "I know it when I see it."

Fictional characters

*The Potter family, principal characters in A.S. Byatt's "Frederica Quartet" novels: '' The Virgin in the Garden'' (1978), ''Still Life'' (1985), ''Babel Tower'' (1996), and ''A Whistling Woman'' (2002)
*Bonifacio "Potter", from the Peruvian TV series '' Al Fondo Hay Sitio''
* Brian Potter, from the British sitcom '' Phoenix Nights''
*Cedric Potter, from '' Under Capricorn''
*Clarence Potter, from Harry Turtledove's Southern Victory alternate history novel series
* Gail Potter, from the British soap opera ''Coronation Street''
*From the ''Harry Potter'' series:
**Albus Severus Potter, Harry Potter and Ginny Potter (née Weasley)'s son
** Ginny Potter (née Weasley), Harry Potter's wife
**Harry Potter, title character
** James Potter, Lily Potter (née Evans)'s husband and Harry Potter's father
** James Sirius Potter, Harry Potter and Ginny Potter (née Weasley)'s son
** Lily Luna Potter, Harry Potter and Ginny Potter (née Weasley)'s daughter
** Lily Potter (née Evans), James Potter's wife and Harry Potter's mother
**Fleamont Potter, James Potter's father and Harry Potter's paternal grandfather
**Euphemia Potter, James Potter's mother and Harry Potter's paternal grandmother
*Harry Potter Jr., from the film '' Troll''
* Mr. Potter, from the film '' It's A Wonderful Life''
* Joey Potter, from the TV series ''Dawson's Creek''
* Marygay Potter, from Joe Haldeman's science fiction novel ''The Forever War''
* Melvin Potter, a Marvel Comics character, formerly the villain Gladiator
*Mr. Potter, from the film '' The Stranger''
*Norman Potter, the school caretaker from the British sitcom '' Please Sir!''
* Pansy Potter, from '' The Beano''
*Peter Potter "Painless", from '' The Paleface''
*Peter Potter Jr. "Junior", from '' Son of Paleface''
* Professor Potter, a DC Comics character
* Sherman T. Potter, from the TV series '' M*A*S*H'' and '' AfterMASH''
*Tycho Potter, from Margaret Mahy's novel '' The Catalogue of the Universe''

See also

* Justice Potter (disambiguation)

References

{{Potter-surname

English-language surnames
Occupational surnames
English-language occupational surnames