How common is the surname Pryor?

27,805 people in the United States had the surname Pryor in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 11,104 Americans. It ranked 1,263rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Pryor?

Richard Pryor, American comedian and actor (1940–2005), followed by Mark Pryor.

Where is the surname Pryor most common?

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

How do you pronounce Pryor?

Pryor is /ˈpɹaɪ.ɚ/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Pryor getting more or less common?

More common. 27,065 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 27,805 in 2010, up 2.7%.

The surname Pryor

An English occupational surname, carried by 27,805 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈpɹaɪ.ɚ/ 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). Pryor is more common than 99.2% of them.

Origin

English origin

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

Pryor 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 27,805 people named Pryor in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 11,104 Americans. That is up 2.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 27,065.

#1,263

rank among US surnames

27,805

people in 2010

9.4

per 100,000 Americans

+2.7%

change since 2000 (was #1,189)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,254	Pierson	27,983	11,033
#1,255	Chacon	27,982	11,034
#1,256	Renteria	27,976	11,036
#1,257	Mohamed	27,972	11,038
#1,258	Nicholas	27,922	11,057
#1,259	Kendrick	27,915	11,060
#1,260	Ferreira	27,898	11,067

Who is named Pryor

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

60% of people named Pryor identified as white (not Hispanic), 34% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.7% as two or more races.

White (not Hispanic) 60%
Black (not Hispanic) 34%
Two or more races 2.7%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.4%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Pryors

13 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Richard Pryor
American comedian and actor (1940–2005)
Mark Pryor
American politician, born 1963
Nicholas Pryor
American actor (1935–2024)
David Pryor
American politician (1934–2024)
Aaron Pryor
American boxer (1955-2016)
Roger Atkinson Pryor
(1828-1919) Confederate Army general, judge
Karen Pryor
American author, 1932–2025
Arthur Willard Pryor
American bandleader, composer, virtuoso trombonist with the Sousa Band (1870–1942)
William H. Pryor, Jr.
American judge, born 1962
Frederic Pryor
American microeconomist, 1933–2019
Luke Pryor
American politician (1820-1900)
Roger Pryor
American actor (1901-1974)

Notable Pryors come mostly from the United States (12) and the United Kingdom (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Pryor

Prior

Pryor 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 Pryor come from?: From Middle English Prior, Priur (surname), from Middle English prior, priour (“prior”). More at prior.
How common is the surname Pryor?: 27,805 people in the United States had the surname Pryor in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 11,104 Americans. It ranked 1,263rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Pryor?: In the 2010 Census, 60% of people named Pryor identified as white (not Hispanic), and 34% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Pryor?: Richard Pryor, American comedian and actor (1940–2005), followed by Mark Pryor.
Where is the surname Pryor most common?: Wikidata records people named Pryor in the United States and the United Kingdom.
How do you pronounce Pryor?: Pryor is /ˈpɹaɪ.ɚ/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Pryor?: Pryor is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Pryor getting more or less common?: More common. 27,065 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 27,805 in 2010, up 2.7%.