16,506 Global PRIEST Family Members

PRIEST Family History

Recorded as Priest, Preist, Prest, Prost, and Priestman, this ancient English surname, one of the first ever recorded, has a number of possible origins. As priests were unable to marry, the surname presumably could not belong to a member of the church, and must either be from somewhere else, or in some cases relate to a priest who had resigned holy orders. The most likely option is that it was an occupational surname for someone in the service of a priest as Priestman, or as a nickname for an actor, one who played the part of a priest in the famous travelling theatres of the medieval period.