# Prior (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/prior/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname originating as an occupation for someone employed by a prior.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 6,787 |
| US rank (2010) | 5,154 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 45,491 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.6% (6,554 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Pryor |

## Etymology

From Middle English Prior, Priur (surname), from Middle English prior, priour (“prior”). More at prior.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Prior in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 88% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 5.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.0% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.8% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 2.0% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Prior in the United States, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom.

## People named Prior

- Matthew Prior, British diplomat, poet (1664-1721)
- Tom Prior, British actor (born 1990)
- Ted Prior, American actor
- Mark Prior, American baseball player

## Similar surnames

Poirier, Pryor, Pereira, Puryear, Perera, Pereyra, Perreira, Perrier.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.