Pryor
An English surname transferred to masculine forename of uncertain meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 400 living Americans carry the first name Pryor. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Pryor today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pryor births was 2019 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pryor. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
400
~ 1 in 856,886 Americans
Peak year
2019
51 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,584
Tracked since 1881
Gender
Gender distribution for Pryor
Pryor leans heavily male at 89.3% of total registrations, but 56 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Pryor as a male name
- Ranked #5,584 in 2024
- 17 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (44 births)
Pryor as a female name
- Ranked #13,091 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (9 births)
Popularity
Pryor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pryor from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 191 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Pryor remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pryor by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Pryor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pryors live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Ohio, Tennessee, Texas recorded the most babies named Pryor, while Florida, Texas, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pryor
The name Pryor has its roots in the Old French language, derived from the word "prieur," which means "prior" or the head of a monastery. This name originated in the medieval period, around the 12th century, and was initially used to refer to individuals who held the position of prior in religious institutions.
During the Middle Ages, the name Pryor was often associated with members of the clergy, particularly those who served as priors in monasteries and abbeys across Europe. It was a title of respect and authority within the religious hierarchy of the time.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Pryor can be found in historical documents and records from various parts of Europe, including France, England, and parts of the Holy Roman Empire. One notable example is William Pryor, an English Benedictine monk who lived in the 12th century and served as the Prior of Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire.
As time passed, the name Pryor evolved from being exclusively associated with religious figures to being adopted as a given name by families outside the clergy. This transition likely occurred during the Renaissance period, when many traditional naming conventions began to change.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Pryor. One of the earliest examples is Roger Pryor (1828-1919), an American lawyer and politician who served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Another prominent figure was Pryor Hendricks (1840-1921), a Union Army officer during the same conflict.
In the 20th century, the name Pryor gained further recognition with individuals such as Richard Pryor (1940-2005), the renowned American stand-up comedian, actor, and social critic, whose influential career spanned several decades. Additionally, there was Aaron Pryor (1955-2016), an American professional boxer who held the world junior welterweight championship in the 1980s.
Another noteworthy individual was Pryor Render (1907-1976), an American jazz pianist and songwriter who made significant contributions to the development of jazz music in the early 20th century.
While the name Pryor has its origins in the religious sphere, it has evolved over time to become a distinct given name with a rich history and cultural significance, carried by influential individuals across various fields and eras.
People
Pryor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pryor as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pryor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pryor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 400 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pryor going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 856,886 US residents.
Is Pryor a common name?
We classify Pryor as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 523 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pryor most popular?
The single biggest year for Pryor was 2019, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pryor is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Pryor a male name?
Yes, 89.3% of people registered as Pryor in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.