Prior Family History
- Prior Name Meaning
- 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.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press
- 1,055,186 Historical Documents with Prior on Ancestry
- 303,771 Birth, Marriage, and Deaths
- 242,753 Census and Voter Lists
- 29,232 Military Records
- 20,317 Immigration Records
- 459,113 Member Trees
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Number of Prior families
 80 - 157  27 - 79 |
 1 - 26  |
from the 1920 US Federal Census Data
Number of Prior families
|
750 - 1,498 251 - 749 |
1 - 250 |
from the 1891 England and Wales Census Data
Number of Prior families
|
30 - 57 11 - 29 |
1 - 10 |
from the 1891 Scotland Census Data
Prior census records
You can see how Prior families moved over time by selecting different Census years.
Census records can tell you little-known facts about your ancestors such as birthplace, occupation and value of personal estate.
from the New York Passengers List
Click on a place to view Prior immigration records
The information for this chart came from the U.S. Immigration Collection at Ancestry. 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.
from the New York Passenger Lists
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.
from the Social Security Death Index (SSDI)
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.
from 1880 Federal Census Data
Prior census records
Census records can offer a lot of little known facts about your Prior ancestors, such as occupation.
Occupation can tell you about your ancestors' social status and economic status.
- All Prior
- 463
- Confederate
- 128
- Union
- 335
from the Civil War Service Records
Click to view veteran service records
You can find out if your ancestors came primarily from the North of the South.
Military records can tell you an ancestor's birthplace, occupation, and even physical description.
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