Presley

Last updated
Presley
Pronunciation /ˈprɛsli/
Gender Unisex [1] [2]
Origin
Word/nameAnglo-Saxon
Meaninghabitational name for one who lived in a place named "Priest's Clearing", from Anglo-Saxon preost and leah
Region of origin England and Scotland
Other names
Variant form(s) Priestly, Pressly, Pressley
Frequency Comparison: [3]

Presley is a surname and given name.

Etymology

The name Presley is derived from the Old English preost, [4] meaning "priest", and leah meaning "forest clearing". [4]

Contents

History

Most instances of the surname Presley and variants Pressley and Pressly are thought to be of English origin. Later, if not found in some form originating also in Scotland, the name made its way across the border to that country, then on to Ireland and to the United States. However, some of the instances of the name in America may derive from the German surname Preslar (ultimately from Bressler, meaning 'from Breslau' (formerly in Germany, now in Poland)), as individuals in some post-colonial American records are recorded under both names. [5]

The surname came to prominence in the person of Elvis Presley, the American music icon, whose family, according to genealogists, has come from the german town of Neuhochstadt in Palatinate, via a certain Johannes Valentin Preslar that emigrated with his sons to North Carolina in the early 1700's. [6]

In the United States and Australia, however, Presley is often an Anglicized form of German surnames such as Preslar and Presler. This is thought to be a habitational name from Breslau, Poland. Former President Jimmy Carter, through his mother, is thought to descend from Johann Valentin Preslar/Presler, who along with his family reached America and later the then frontier area of the central Carolinas sometime during the mid-18th century. Elvis Presley may have had the same ancestor. [5]

Today, Presley ranks as the 1,825 most common surname in the United States.

People with the surname

Variants of the surname

People with the given name

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References

  1. ↑ "Popular Baby Names". The United States Social Security Administration. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Presley - Baby Name Meaning, Origin, and Popularity". Nameberry.com. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  3. ↑ "Presley Surname Meaning and Geographic Distribution". forebears.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2014
  4. 1 2 Reaney, Percy H (1958). A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge. ISBN   1134933274.
  5. 1 2 "Elvis Presley Family History | Elvis Biography".
  6. ↑ "Johannes Valentine Presley, I". geni_family_tree. 2023-07-12. Retrieved 2024-03-11.
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