The Prichard surname was a venerable name well before one of its scions, Lev H. Prichard, became a well-known figure among Oklahoman business men, as well as well-known across the American business world in the first half of the Twentieth Century.

The Prichard name is actually of Welsh origin and was originally written as “ap Richard”, meaning “son of Richard”.

The use of surnames was not introduced into England before the tenth century. The practice of using some form of distinction in the use of family names began in Normandy, and gradually extended into England. The use of surnameswas not unknown among the Anglo-Saxon prior to the Norman conquest. At the time of the Doomsday Survey, surnames were becoming more frequent, for both the tenants in chief, as well as for a few of the under-tenants.

The name Prichard was derived from “ap Richard,” meaning “son of Richard”. When the “p” in “ap” is capable of elliding with the first letter in the father’s name, then the “a” in “ap” is dropped, and the form “Prichard” is used instead of “ap Richard,” rather like English contracted words.

The name Prichard has often been corrupted into various spellings, as many another name has been. The names “Pritchard”, “Pritchett”, “Prichett” and “Pricket” are evidentally corrupt spellings of the Prichard name. At what time and under what circumstances the “t” crept into the name is debated and difficult to ascertain. If every family of Welsh genrty that had a “Richard” for its father and founder at the time of the introduction of the surnames became Prichards, it is not surprising that the Prichard family in Walse should seem so prolific, and its lineages so difficult to trace.

So, there you have it. Those named “Prichard” likely all descended from Welsh families that had a “Richard” somewhere back in the family lineage.

Source: The Prichard Family, by Martha Coleman Johnson, 1915