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’.
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
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