The Pridgen surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,591 people carried this name — #6,127 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 52,600 people counted. That is up 3% from 5,426 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Pridgen surname

Possibly from Old French preux (“wise; brave”) + Jehan (“John”).

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

In the first U.S. census, 1790

22 families named Pridgen, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 117 people lived in those households, 5.3 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 8 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

North Carolina 14
Massachusetts 4
Pennsylvania 3
New York 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 258 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Pridgen in American newspapers,
1926–1928.

Newspaper page from South Bend News-times carrying the name Pridgen
South Bend News-times 1926-10-19
Newspaper page from South Bend News-times carrying the name Pridgen
South Bend News-times 1928-01-29
Newspaper page from Evening Star carrying the name Pridgen
Evening Star 1926-09-19

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 4,438 pages in all carry the name.

In the public record

People named Pridgen,
in the records of 2 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 States268 records

268 records of the Pridgen name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 184
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 68
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 9
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 3
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Roy E. Pridgen

    Born 1910 in North Carolina. Enlisted 1942 at Los Angeles, California; athlete. U.S. Army veteran; died 1959, buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, California.

    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 Gary Morgan Pridgen

    Born 1949; from Kinston, Alabama. U.S. Army, u/a airplane repairman; died in an accident 1970 in Kontum, South Vietnam.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A U.S. Army record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864
    Example: U.S. burial record, 1864
    Burial record Randolph Pridgen

    U.S. Army veteran. Born 1955, died 1997; buried at Bayview-New York Bay Cemetery, Jersey City, New Jersey.

    U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)

Showing 3 of 268 records for Pridgen in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). 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); Record of death and interment, Camp Nelson, Kentucky, 1864, U.S. National Archives (public domain).

Canada1 record

1 record of the Pridgen name in Canada Nova Scotia Archives name indexes
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Mary Margaret Pridgen

    Died 1908 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Pridgen.

When the index is not enough

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

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