PRETTYMAN
In England the surname Prettyman is recorded as an occupational name originating from the Middle English word praty or prety, which meant “pretty” or “attractive”. The suffix man simply denoted a person, thereby making the literal sense of the name “pretty man” or “attractive man”. It is therefore most likely that the surname began as a nickname attributed to a person regarded as good‑looking or charming, before becoming hereditary and being passed through generations.
The earliest documented appearance of the name in Suffolk dates to the late fourteenth century, where a William Praytman of Bacton is named in a charter of 1393. Earlier citations include Robert Prytty in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk of 1327, and later references such as William Pritty in the Feudal Dues of 1428 and Thomas Praty in the London Letter Books of 1479. These records demonstrate that the spelling of the surname varied during the Middle Ages, reflecting regional dialects and the absence of standardised orthography.
A coat of arms associated with a Pritty family depicts a shield divided per pale into silver and red, bearing three wolves' heads counterchanged. This heraldic description, which appears in the heraldic rolls of the period, shows that families bearing the name were at some point granted recognisable arms, a privilege usually reserved for those of status or significance.
Although the surname is of English origin, it is currently most common in the United States, ranking among the three hundred and sixty‑fourth most frequent surnames in the 2000 census. It is concentrated primarily in the mid‑Atlantic states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware, with substantial populations recorded in cities such as Philadelphia and in counties including Montgomery and Prince George’s in Maryland.
Variants of the name include Pritman, Pratman, Prittman and others that are employed interchangeably, particularly in contemporary records. These alternative spellings arise from phonetic transcription and local pronunciation differences across regions of England and in later emigrant communities.
Historical sources consistently describe the surname Prettyman as linked to either physical allure or mental cleverness, with Old English elements suggesting qualities such as “clever”, “cunning” or “artful”. The name thereby conveys a sense of personal distinction that may have been celebrated or, at times, used with irony, depending on the context in which it originally emerged.
Typical given names associated with the Prettyman surname
Male
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Leslie
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Phillip
- Richard
- Timothy
Female
- Angela
- Catherine
- Elizabeth
- Gladys
- Jennifer
- Joan
- Joyce
- Julie
- Juliet
- Linda
- Rosalyn
- Sarah
- Shan
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Prettyman in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 196 people named Prettyman in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around three in a million people in Britain are named Prettyman.
Surname type: Occupational name
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
