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    The surname Preston

    An English place surname, carried by 47,367 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈpɹɛs.tən/ 2 syllables Soundex P623 Also a first name

    Preston: #736 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Preston #736, 47,367 people Preston: #736 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Preston #736, 47,367 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Preston is more common than 99.5% of them.

    Origin

    English origin

    From Old English Prēostatūn, from prēosta (“priests'”, genitive plural) + tūn (“settlement”). Doublet of Prestatyn.

    Preston is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

    One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 47,367 people named Preston in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 6,518 Americans. That is up 3.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 45,850.

    #736
    rank among US surnames
    47,367
    people in 2010
    16
    per 100,000 Americans
    +3.3%
    change since 2000 (was #681)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #727Walter48,0246,429
    #728Henson48,0136,430
    #729O'Neal47,9796,435
    #730Mosley47,9636,437
    #731McClure47,7426,467
    #732Beasley47,6936,474
    #733Stephenson47,6416,481

    Who is named Preston

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    73% of people named Preston identified as white (not Hispanic), 20% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 73%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 20%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
    • Two or more races 2.3%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 1.1%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Prestons

    26 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Kelly Preston
      American actress (1962–2020)
    • Billy Preston
      American R&B musician (1946–2006)
    • Robert Preston
      American actor and singer (1918–1987)
    • Carrie Preston
      American actress, born 1967
    • Douglas Preston
      American journalist and author (born 1956)
    • Don Preston
      American musician (born 1932)
    • Thomas Austin Preston
      American poker player (1928–2012)
    • Ann Preston
      American physician, 1813–1872
    • Johnny Preston
      American rock and roll singer (1939–2011)
    • Margaret Preston
      Australian artist (1875-1963)
    • Wayde Preston
      American actor (1929-1992)
    • J. A. Preston
      American actor, born 1932

    Notable Prestons come mostly from the United States (20), Australia (4) and Canada (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Surnames that sound like Preston

    Preston has the Soundex code P623, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P623.

    Other English surnames

    All 1,446 English surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Preston come from?
    From Old English Prēostatūn, from prēosta (“priests'”, genitive plural) + tūn (“settlement”). Doublet of Prestatyn.
    How common is the surname Preston?
    47,367 people in the United States had the surname Preston in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 6,518 Americans. It ranked 736th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Preston?
    In the 2010 Census, 73% of people named Preston identified as white (not Hispanic), and 20% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Preston?
    Kelly Preston, American actress (1962–2020), followed by Billy Preston.
    Where is the surname Preston most common?
    Wikidata records people named Preston in the United States, Australia and Canada and 1 other country.
    How do you pronounce Preston?
    Preston is /ˈpɹɛs.tən/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Preston?
    Preston is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
    Is the surname Preston getting more or less common?
    More common. 45,850 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 47,367 in 2010, up 3.3%.
    Is Preston also a first name?
    Yes. Preston is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.