Given name & surname
Prentiss
“a student; an apprentice”
Prentiss is a variant of Prentice. One English interpretation is “a student; an apprentice.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Prentiss is a variant of Prentice. One English interpretation is “a student; an apprentice.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Prentiss is a variant of Prentice. An origin associated with Prentice is English.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1887. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Prentiss through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 2,789
- 2,724 boys · 65 girls
- Most popular year
- 1951
- 50 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −44%
- Cooling
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 7 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 47 in 1943. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,516 as a first name in 2020; 2,151 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Prentiss’s family of names
Prentiss has a related form in Prentice.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Prentiss
- Prentiss M. BrownAmerican politician (1889–1973)
- Prentiss MellenAmerican judge (1764-1840)
- Prentiss HubbAmerican basketball player (born 1999)
- Prentiss WalkerMississippi farmer and congressman (1917–1998)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Prentiss, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Artis
“lofty hill; noble” · “rock”
94% boys · 6% girls
Denis
“a follower of Dionysus” · “follower of Dionysus”
94% boys · 6% girls
Sanders
“son of Alexander” · “helper and defender of mankind”
>99% boys
Elvis
“one who is wise”
>99% boys
Orest
>99% boys
Dennis
“a follower of Dionysus”
99% boys · 1% girls
Adlai
“God is just” · “The Lord is just; an orna-i ment”
75% boys · 25% girls
Sherman
“one who cuts wool cloth”
>99% boys