How common is the surname Priest?

14,915 people in the United States had the surname Priest in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 20,700 Americans. It ranked 2,430th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Priest?

Christopher Priest, British author (1943–2024), followed by Pat Priest.

Where is the surname Priest most common?

Wikidata records people named Priest in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Is the surname Priest getting more or less common?

More common. 14,350 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 14,915 in 2010, up 3.9%.

The surname Priest

An English surname, carried by 14,915 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex P623

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Priest is more common than 98.5% of them.

Origin

English origin

From Middle English Prest.

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 14,915 people named Priest in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 20,700 Americans. That is up 3.9% since 2000, when the Census counted 14,350.

#2,430

rank among US surnames

14,915

people in 2010

5.1

per 100,000 Americans

+3.9%

change since 2000 (was #2,309)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,421	Bail	14,957	20,642
#2,422	Isaacs	14,951	20,650
#2,423	Brower	14,950	20,652
#2,424	Yazzie	14,949	20,653
#2,425	Strange	14,948	20,655
#2,426	Boles	14,946	20,657
#2,427	Mares	14,931	20,678

Who is named Priest

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

88% of people named Priest identified as white (not Hispanic), 6.1% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 88%
Black (not Hispanic) 6.1%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 2.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Priests

5 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Christopher Priest
British author (1943–2024)
Pat Priest
American actress, born 1936
Cherie Priest
American writer, born 1975
Steve Priest
Bassist for Sweet (1948–2020)
Christopher J. Priest
American comic book writer, born 1961

Notable Priests come mostly from the United States (3) and the United Kingdom (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Priest

Priest 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 Priest come from?: From Middle English Prest.
How common is the surname Priest?: 14,915 people in the United States had the surname Priest in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 20,700 Americans. It ranked 2,430th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Priest?: In the 2010 Census, 88% of people named Priest identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.1% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Priest?: Christopher Priest, British author (1943–2024), followed by Pat Priest.
Where is the surname Priest most common?: Wikidata records people named Priest in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Is the surname Priest getting more or less common?: More common. 14,350 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 14,915 in 2010, up 3.9%.