Petit facts for kids

The name Petit comes from the French language and means "small" or "little." It's a surname, which is a family name, and many interesting people around the world have had this name. Let's learn about some of them!

People Named Petit

Here are some notable individuals with the surname Petit:

Artists and Performers

• Adriana Petit (born 1984) is a Spanish artist who works in many different art forms.
• Henriette Petit (1894–1983) was a talented painter from Chile.
• Philippe Petit (born 1949) is a famous French high-wire artist. He is known for walking on a wire between tall buildings, like the Twin Towers in New York City!
• Pierre Petit (photographer) (1832–1909) was a French photographer who captured many important moments and people.
• Pierre Petit (cinematographer) (1920–1997) was a French cinematographer, which means he was in charge of the camera and lighting when making movies.
• Pierre Petit (composer) (1922–2000) was a French composer who created music.
• Roland Petit (1924–2011) was a famous French choreographer and dancer, known for creating beautiful ballet performances.

Scientists and Scholars

• Alexis Thérèse Petit (1791–1820) was a French physicist who studied how heat affects materials.
• Antoine Petit (1722–1794) was a French physician, a type of doctor.
• François Pourfour du Petit (1664–1741) was a French anatomist, someone who studies the structure of living things.
• Pierre Petit (scholar) (1617–1687) was a French scholar, a medical writer, and a poet.
• Pierre Petit (engineer) (1598–1677) was a French military engineer, mathematician, and physicist.
• Sauveur Abel Aubert Petit de la Saussaye (1792–1870) was a French malacologist, a scientist who studies mollusks like snails and clams.

Leaders and Public Figures

• Amandine Petit (born 1997) is a French model and was crowned Miss France 2021.
• Antoni Martí Petit was a prime minister of Andorra, a small country in Europe.
• Cavelier Petit was an American politician.
• Jean-Martin Petit (1772–1856) was a French General during the Napoleonic Wars, a time when France was involved in many conflicts across Europe.
• Pierre Petit (politician) (1930–2022) was a politician from Martinique, an island in the Caribbean.
• John F. Petit (1887–1963) was an American businessman and politician.
• Rosa Petit is a Venezuelan politician.
• The Petit Family is also a prominent Parsi family from India. One famous member was Dinshaw Maneckji Petit (1823–1901), an important industrialist. His granddaughter, Rattanbai Petit (1900–1929), was married to Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who founded the country of Pakistan.

Sports and Other Fields

• Monique Ruck-Petit (born 1942) is a chess master from Switzerland and France.
• Paul Petit (aviator) (1890–1918) was a French flying ace, a pilot who shot down many enemy aircraft during wartime.
• Pierre Petit (driver) (born 1957) is a French racecar driver.
• John Louis Petit (1801–1868) was an English clergyman and an architectural artist, known for drawing buildings.
• Yusmeiro Petit (born 1984) is a baseball player from Venezuela.

Footballers Named Petit

Many footballers, or soccer players, have also carried the surname Petit:

• Emmanuel Petit (born 1970) was a famous French midfielder who played for top teams like Arsenal and Barcelona, and for the French national team.
• Gonzalo Petit (born 2006) is a Uruguayan forward.
• Petit (Portuguese footballer) (Armando Gonçalves Teixeira, born 1976) is a Portuguese midfielder.
• Jean Petit (Belgian footballer) (1914–1944) was a Belgian defender.
• Jean Petit (footballer, born 1949) (born 1949) was a French midfielder.
• Paulinho Le Petit (born 1989) was a Brazilian midfielder.
• Petit Sory (born 1945) was a Guinean forward.
• René Petit (1899–1989) was a Franco-Spanish engineer who also played football when he was younger.

See also

• All pages with titles containing "Petit"