The Prieur surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 648 people carried this name — #34,835 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 454,500 people counted. That is up 10% from 589 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Prieur surname
Borrowed from French Prieur, occupational surname from prieur (“prior”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Prieur» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 4,634 people named Prieur.
53 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 95 départements, most often Paris.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
40 people named Prieur live in Switzerland.
They live in 4 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Belgium’s population register
At least 24 people named Prieur live in Belgium.
Statbel only publishes a name in a municipality when five or more people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Luxembourg Province.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Statbel (Statistics Belgium), family names of the population by municipality, 1 January 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
Who carried it
People named Prieur,
with a public archive behind them.
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Pierre Louis Prieur 1756–1827 · lawyer -
Jean-Louis Prieur 1758–1795 · sculptor -
Edmond-Frédéric Prieur d. 1849 · playwright
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Barthélemy Prieur 1536–1611 · sculptor
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Barthélemy Prieur 1540–1611 · sculptor
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Mathieu Prieur 1552–1618 · painter
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Prieur.
- Price 235,251 · U.S. census
- Priem 678 · U.S. census
- Prier 744 · U.S. census
- Priest 14,915 · U.S. census
- Priester 3,951 · U.S. census
- Prieto 19,520 · U.S. census
- Prim 2,019 · U.S. census
- Prima 159 · U.S. census
- Primas 434 · U.S. census
- Prime 1,491 · U.S. census
- Prina 143 · U.S. census
- Prince 47,168 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Prieur 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.