Frequency: (161)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. Dutch: nickname for a plain, simple man (either unpretentious or simple-minded), from Old French plain, Latin planus ‘plain’, ‘flat’, ‘straightforward’.
2. German: habitational name from a place so named in Bohemia (Czech name Planina).
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
