Priddy (surname)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Origins
2 Variations
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Origins

Priddy is an anglicized surname thought by some to be one of the Welsh "patronymics," or names created from the father's name. The name may have been derived from the Welsh "ap Ridel," meaning "son of Ridel," an ancient Welsh name from the parish of Lillieslead, County Roxburgh. Variations of the Welsh form are "ap Rhiddid," meaning "son of Rhiddid," or even "ap Redith" which means "son of Redith" a short form of Meredith. If so it has its roots in personal name Maredudd, of which the Old Welsh form is Morgetiud, of which the first element may mean "pomp" or "splendor" and the second, iudd, meaning "lord." That being the case, Priddy may mean or imply "son of splendid lord" or simply "son of lord."

It is also possible that Priddy was derived from the personal name Predyr or Peredur (perhaps from Old Welsh peri ‘spears’ + dur ‘hard’, ‘steel’), which was borne, in Arthurian legend, by one of the knights of the Round Table.

The name may have been derived from occupational trade, from the Welsh prydydd, meaning "bard."

The name also may have come from those who simply lived in Priddy in Somerset, derived probably from the Celtic words meaning "earth house."

In the case of British Columbia, Canada, politician Penny Priddy, the surname is a respelling of the original "Pretty".

The Priddy article also discusses the etymological origins of the name.