The Prewitt surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 8,371 people carried this name — #4,234 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 35,200 people counted. About the same as in 2000 (8,341).

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the Prewitt surname

English surname, variant of Prue, Prew, Prow.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Prewitt» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

In print

Prewitt in American newspapers,
1887–1921.

Newspaper page from The Nicodemus Enterprise carrying the name Prewitt
The Nicodemus Enterprise 1887-09-28
Newspaper page from The New York Herald carrying the name Prewitt
The New York Herald 1921-01-09
Newspaper page from Evening Star carrying the name Prewitt
Evening Star 1921-01-09

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Prewitt in Australian newspapers,
1850s–1950s.

531 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Prewitt. The most, 102, date from the 1910s. Queensland has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Western Australia, at 2.6 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Queensland 203
South Australia 114
Western Australia 114
Victoria 68
New South Wales 25
Tasmania 3
ACT (Canberra) 2
Northern Territory 2

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Prewitt.

Who carried it

People named Prewitt,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Levi Prewitt
    Levi Prewitt 1799–1880
  • Nelson Guildoroy Prewitt
    Nelson Guildoroy Prewitt 1806–1870 · politician
  • Clifton Blackburn Prewitt
    Clifton Blackburn Prewitt 1826–1902 · businessperson
  • Kenneth Prewitt
    Kenneth Prewitt 1936–2026 · university teacher
  • Alan M. Prewitt 1893–1963 · basketball player
  • Bob Prewitt 1924–2018 · basketball player

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Prewitt,
in the records of 3 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States385 records

385 records of the Prewitt name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 265
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 106
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 3
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 3
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 2
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 2
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 2
  • Sacramento County historic burials 2
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Grover C. Prewitt

    Born 1926 in Oklahoma. Enlisted 1944 at Oklahoma City; manager from Lincoln County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1975, buried at Konawa City Cemetery, Oklahoma.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Larry Gene Prewitt

    Born 1947; from Stroud, Oklahoma. U.S. Army, infantryman; died in an accident 1969 in Phuoc Long, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Thomas Prewitt

    Arrived at New York in 1874 aboard the Java from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 42; physician.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 385 records for Prewitt in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia10 records

10 records of the Prewitt name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 6
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 2
  • Tasmanian Names Index 2
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record John Prewitt

    Arrived in Victoria in 1886 aboard the Potosi, aged 30; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  2. The first page of an emigration file from Gündlingen, Baden, 1883
    Example: German emigration file, 1883
    Emigration record William Prewitt

    Left Launceston in 1836 aboard the Henry, bound for Port Phillip.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Civil record Walter Stevens Prewitt

    Leased farmland at Cairns, Queensland in 1905.

    Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 10 records for Prewitt in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Emigration file, Gündlingen, 1883, Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg, Staatsarchiv Freiburg B 694/1 Nr. 1389 (CC BY 4.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

United Kingdom1 record

1 record of the Prewitt name in the United Kingdom War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record C. L. Prewitt

    Wiltshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Prewitt.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Prewitt is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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