- Means “from the priest’s meadow”
- Famous for none other than American singer Elvis Presley — and, in turn, his former wife Priscilla Presley, and their daughter Lisa Marie Presley
The text below is excerpted with permission from the book The Encyclopedia of American Last Names: Family Genealogy and Meanings for 1000 Surnames of Early European Settlers to the United States.
History of the name Presley
Pres is a component syllable in many locality surnames, being a contraction of Priests (Anglo-Saxon preostes), as Presland (“the priest’s land”); Presley, Pressley and Presslee (“the priest’s meadow”); Preswell (“the priest’s well”), Prested (“the priest’s place,”) etc.
The surname could have also originated with the Scottish hamlet of Persley, Aberdeenshire, which is now part of the city of Aberdeen.
The family were early settlers in America. Records show that in 1649, William Presley patented 1150 acres in Northumberland County, Virginia; while Peter Presley patented 500 acres on the Chickacoan River [probably in Virginia] in 1670.
