Given name & surname · also American
Pryor
“a wealthy woman; prosperous”·“head of the monastery”
Pryor is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “a wealthy woman; prosperous” (American) and “head of the monastery” (Latin). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “a wealthy woman; prosperous” (American) and “head of the monastery” (Latin). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
This spelling has been associated with American and Latin naming traditions.
How it developed
From Middle English Prior, from Middle English prior.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1881. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Pryor through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 540
- 484 boys · 56 girls
- Most popular year
- 2019
- 51 babies
- 2025
- 17
- #5,554 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −27%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 17 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 5,554 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 28.4% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 44 in 2019. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 375 as a first name in 2020; 26,548 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.
Pryor’s family of names
Pryor has a related form in Prior. Pryor has a related form in Pryar. Pryor has a related form in Pryer.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Pryor
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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