Privett
A locational surname from Privett in Hampshire, likely meaning a person who came from that place.
The #9,117 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 86,170 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained as a habitational name from Privett in Hampshire. One 19th-century source suggests the place-name may go back to an Old English form meaning something like "Prunt's stream" or "Prunt's floodplain," though the personal name behind it is uncertain. The surname therefore most likely began as a way of identifying someone by origin, not by occupation or nickname.
History
The name is recorded as a local surname in English sources, and the Hampshire place-name explanation is the standard one given in the historical dictionaries here. Spelling has varied over time, with forms such as Pritt and other close spellings appearing in older records. Today Privett remains a relatively uncommon English surname, with bearers concentrated in Britain and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname shares its name with the Hampshire village of Privett, so it is one of many English surnames that preserve a tiny slice of local geography.
From the historical record
“PRITTY for Pretty, q.v. PRIVETT (Eng.) Bel. to Privett (Hants), said to be the Saxon Pruntesfldd = Prunt's Stream ; but I have not elsewhere met this pers. name [O.K. fldd, a stream, flood; O.K. fldde, a channel] PROBART \ (Celt. + Teut.) for the Welsh”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)