Priestley Surname

33,733rd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 15,734 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
England

Priestley Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Priestley' (i.e the priest's meadow), some small estate in the near neighbourhood of Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire. The surname is familiar in all English-speaking countries. But other spots would bear the same name.

Read More About This Surname

Priestley Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England8,5661:6,505932
United States2,6371:137,45114,365
Australia2,4511:11,0141,632
Canada4541:81,1589,054
New Zealand3531:12,8282,243
Scotland2721:19,6832,305
Wales1911:16,2021,749
Ireland1711:27,5382,522
South Africa1241:436,91737,311
France1071:620,77381,454
Jamaica901:31,8882,313
Northern Ireland711:25,9862,864
Germany411:1,963,548108,338
United Arab Emirates301:305,40920,323
Spain181:2,597,33559,996
Thailand141:5,045,596363,835
Singapore131:423,66918,211
Philippines111:9,203,475207,772
Nigeria101:17,714,276277,641
Malaysia101:2,949,422111,742
Jersey101:9,9202,003
Cayman Islands91:7,099820
Papua New Guinea81:1,019,215101,897
Norway71:734,61250,907
Brazil71:30,582,047441,004
Switzerland51:1,642,58387,307
Rwanda41:2,841,2443,611
Russia41:36,030,764577,589
India41:191,766,3461,073,940
United States Virgin Islands31:36,7924,502
Panama31:1,304,08613,647
Czechia31:3,544,490144,714
Indonesia31:44,083,065698,220
Italy31:20,385,563143,117
Afghanistan21:16,076,59243,178
Denmark21:2,822,35876,882
China21:683,660,78330,601
Mexico21:62,063,10283,384
Hong Kong11:7,335,48316,643
Oman11:3,687,97114,390
Barbados11:287,4482,772
Chile11:17,616,47493,597
Finland11:5,496,70284,025
Bosnia and Herzegovina11:3,536,40219,532
Colombia11:47,774,07244,230
Gambia11:1,923,4511,043
Bulgaria11:6,978,90586,260
Gibraltar11:33,9541,660
Kazakhstan11:17,682,496204,010
Tanzania11:52,941,613123,716
Netherlands11:16,887,176156,465
Sudan11:37,510,19514,259
Cambodia11:15,487,14614,824
Solomon Islands11:580,02922,243
Luxembourg11:580,54215,155
Jordan11:8,842,43726,010
Saudi Arabia11:30,855,81763,028
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland751:59,0654,671
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England4,6611:5,230795
Scotland171:220,1897,953
Wales71:224,0598,079
Isle of Man11:54,2692,077
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States2441:205,81417,803

Priestley (185) may also be a first name.

Priestley Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Priestley' (i.e the priest's meadow), some small estate in the near neighbourhood of Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire. The surname is familiar in all English-speaking countries. But other spots would bear the same name.

Walter Prestlegh, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

The two following lived in Hipperholme, near Bradford:

Elena de Presteley, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Johannes de Presteley, 1379: ibid.

1561. William PrieStlye and Margaret Sorrowgold: Marriage Lic.(London).

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

(English) belonging to Priestley or Priestleigh; or Dweller at the Priest’s or Priests’ Lea [Old English préost, priest; leáh., lea] Priestleigh, Soms., was Prestlegh A.D. 1327.

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(English) Dweller in, or near, the Priest's meadow or wood.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

From a family MS. mentioned in B.L.G. it appears that the ancient seat and inheritance of the family was in Soyland and Sowerby, in the parish of Halifax, co. York.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

From Priestcliffe; a location name in Derbyshire.

British Family Names: Their Origin and Meaning (1903) by Henry Barber

Priestley Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Priestley Come From? nationality or country of origin

Priestley (Arabic: بريستلي) occurs most in England. It may also be rendered in the variant forms:. For other potential spellings of Priestley click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Priestley? popularity and diffusion

The last name is the 33,733rd most widely held family name on a worldwide basis. It is borne by approximately 1 in 463,172 people. The last name is predominantly found in Europe, where 60 percent of Priestley are found; 59 percent are found in Northern Europe and 59 percent are found in British Isles. It is also the 669,105th most numerous first name worldwide. It is borne by 185 people.

The last name Priestley is most prevalent in England, where it is carried by 8,566 people, or 1 in 6,505. In England Priestley is most frequent in: West Yorkshire, where 23 percent are found, Greater London, where 7 percent are found and South Yorkshire, where 7 percent are found. Excluding England this surname occurs in 56 countries. It is also found in The United States, where 17 percent are found and Australia, where 16 percent are found.

Priestley Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The frequency of Priestley has changed over time. In England the number of people bearing the Priestley last name grew 184 percent between 1881 and 2014; in The United States it grew 1,081 percent between 1880 and 2014; in Scotland it grew 1,600 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it grew 2,729 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it grew 228 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Priestley Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those holding the Priestley surname is primarily Presbyterian (49%) in Ireland.

In The United States Priestley are 9.73% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than The US average, with 56.5% being registered with the political party.

The amount Priestley earn in different countries varies notably. In Norway they earn 21.54% more than the national average, earning 420,614 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 9.48% more than the national average, earning R 260,160 per year; in United States they earn 2.49% less than the national average, earning $42,073 USD per year and in Canada they earn 0.98% less than the national average, earning $49,198 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Priestley Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Priestley in the Arabic language
بريستليbrystly-

Search for Another Surname

The name statistics are still in development, sign up for information on more maps and data

By signing up to the mailing list you will only receive emails specifically about name reference on Forebears and your information will not be distributed to 3rd parties.

Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Priestley
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis