The story
- Old English · derived fromprēost“priest”
- English todayPresley
The English surname is usually a variant of Priestley, from Old English prēost (“priest”) + lēah (“wood, clearing”). Equivalent to priest + -ley (“lea”). The place-name in Scotland may be from Pictish, equivalent to Welsh prys (“bush”) + Welsh lle (“place”).
Words from the same roots
Old Englishprēost all →
priestPriestleyPrestwichPresland
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.