How common is the surname Prior?

6,787 people in the United States had the surname Prior in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 45,491 Americans. It ranked 5,154th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Prior?

Matthew Prior, British diplomat, poet (1664-1721), followed by Tom Prior.

Where is the surname Prior most common?

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

Is the surname Prior getting more or less common?

More common. 6,554 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 6,787 in 2010, up 3.6%.

The surname Prior

An English occupational surname, carried by 6,787 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex P660

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Prior is more common than 96.8% of them.

Origin

English origin

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

Prior is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

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 6,787 people named Prior in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 45,491 Americans. That is up 3.6% since 2000, when the Census counted 6,554.

#5,154

rank among US surnames

6,787

people in 2010

2.3

per 100,000 Americans

+3.6%

change since 2000 (was #4,926)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#5,145	Turney	6,803	45,384
#5,146	Tindall	6,802	45,390
#5,147	Pinckney	6,800	45,404
#5,148	Grisham	6,798	45,417
#5,150	Hutcherson	6,795	45,437
#5,151	Woodcock	6,794	45,444
#5,152	Koller	6,792	45,457

Who is named Prior

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

88% of people named Prior identified as white (not Hispanic), 5.8% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.0% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

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

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Priors

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Matthew Prior
British diplomat, poet (1664-1721)
Tom Prior
British actor (born 1990)
Ted Prior
American actor, born 1959
Mark Prior
American baseball player, born 1980

Notable Priors come mostly from the United States (2), the Kingdom of Great Britain (1) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Pryor

Surnames that sound like Prior

Prior has the Soundex code P660, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P660.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Prior come from?: From Middle English Prior, Priur (surname), from Middle English prior, priour (“prior”). More at prior.
How common is the surname Prior?: 6,787 people in the United States had the surname Prior in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 45,491 Americans. It ranked 5,154th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Prior?: In the 2010 Census, 88% of people named Prior identified as white (not Hispanic), and 5.8% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Prior?: Matthew Prior, British diplomat, poet (1664-1721), followed by Tom Prior.
Where is the surname Prior most common?: Wikidata records people named Prior in the United States, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom.
What type of surname is Prior?: Prior is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Prior getting more or less common?: More common. 6,554 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 6,787 in 2010, up 3.6%.
What are other spellings of Prior?: Pryor.