The name Presley is derived from the
Old Englishpreost,[3] meaning "priest", and leah meaning "forest clearing".[3]
History
Most instances of the
surnamePresley and variants Pressley and Pressly are thought to be of
English origin. Later, if not found in some form originating also in
Scotland, the name made its way across the border to that country, then on to
Ireland and to the
United States. However, some of the instances of the name in America may derive from the German surname Preslar (ultimately from Bressler, meaning 'from
Breslau' (formerly in Germany, now in Poland)), as individuals in some post-colonial American records are recorded under both names.[4]
The surname came to prominence in the person of
Elvis Presley, the American music icon, whose family, according to genealogists, has come from the german town of
Neuhochstadt in Palatinate, via a certain Johannes Valentin Preslar that emigrated with his sons to
North Carolina in the early 1700's.[5]
In the United States and
Australia, however, Presley is often an Anglicized form of German surnames such as Preslar and Presler. This is thought to be a habitational name from
Breslau, Poland. Former President
Jimmy Carter, through his mother, is thought to descend from Johann Valentin Preslar/Presler, who along with his family reached America and later the then frontier area of the central Carolinas sometime during the mid-18th century. Elvis Presley may have had the same ancestor.[4]
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name or the same
family name. If an
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