Family name origins & meanings
- Altered spelling of French Poinset, from a derivative of Old French poinson ‘pointed instrument’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker or user of any pointed instrument.
- The poinsettia takes its name from an American diplomat, Joel Poinsett (1779–1851), who was a keen amateur botanist and who brought the flower back from Mexico, where he was U.S. ambassador. He was born in Charleston, SC, and was descended from a Huguenot, Peter Poinset, who was born near La Rochelle, France, and settled in Charleston c.1700.