The priest Surname
priest Name Meaning and History
English (mainly West Midlands): from Middle English pr(i)est
‘minister of the Church’ (Old English preost, from Latin
presbyter, Greek presbyteros ‘elder’, ‘counselor’,
comparative of presbys ‘old man’), used as a nickname, either
for someone with a pious manner or possibly for someone who had played
the part of a priest in a pageant. It may also have been an
occupational name for someone in the service of a priest, and
occasionally it may have been used to denote someone suspected of
being the son of a priest.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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