The prime Surname
prime Name Meaning and History
- English: from a Middle English personal name or nickname. The personal name existed in Old English, and is probably derived from Old English prim ‘early morning’ (from Latin primus ‘first’, used as the name of one of the canonical hours). The surname may be derived from this word as a Middle English nickname in the sense ‘fine’, ‘excellent’.
- French: feminine form of Prim 3.
- Dutch: variant of Priem.
- Probably an Americanized spelling of German Preim, a topographic name (of Slavic origin), perhaps from a river near Hannover; or of Preime, a variant of Primus.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Learn the meaning and history of your first name
Share this page with friends and family
Search for prime records
More resources for your prime family history
Prime message board
Threads: 42 - Messages: 86
Start your FREE family tree. Who will you discover?
A family tree is the easiest way to start discovering your family history. To begin, just enter whatever you know and we'll use that to try and find more information for you.
Begin your family tree with your name:
The prime name in History
A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the prime family name as far back in history as possible.
Member Connections
- Anonymously contact one of the Ancestry members researching the prime last name.
- Search for Ancestry members researching one of your specific ancestors.
- Create or update your own Ancestry member profile so that other members can anonymously contact you.
More Tools and Resources
- Search Ancestry.com for all of your prime ancestors.
- Create and publish your own family history book using Ancestry Press.
- Learn more about your family history using DNA Ancestry.
- Learn more about family history in the Ancestry Learning Center.
- Visit the Ancestry.com homepage.