Southern English, Scottish, Dutch, and German: ultimately from
Latin prior ‘superior’, used to denote a prior, a monastic
official immediately subordinate to an abbot, hence a nickname for
someone thought to resemble a prior or, more often, an occupational
name for a servant of a prior.Irish: Anglicized form
of Irish Gaelic Mac an Phríora ‘son of the prior’ (this is
the usual origin in Counties Cavan and Leitrim). Some examples may be
Anglo-Norman, the same name as in 1.Portuguese,
Spanish, and Catalan: from prior, probably denoting someone in
the service of a prior or a nickname for someone who behaved in a
pompous way.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
563,304
Historical Documents & Family Trees with Prior
Click on a place to view Prior immigration records
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry.com.
You can find out where the majority of the Prior families were living before
they immigrated to the U.S and learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival, and destination.
Click on a circle in the chart to view Prior immigration records
You can find out when most of the Prior families immigrated
to the United States.
You can focus your search to immigration records dating from that era.
Immigration records can tell you an ancestor's name, ship name, port of departure,
port of arrival and destination.
Click on a circle in the chart to view Prior birth and death records
An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your ancestors lived in harsh conditions.
A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in
your family.
The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates,
death dates, addresses and more.