Prater
An English surname that may come from a talkative person, though some writers also linked it to a monastery refectory or to Latinized forms of “priest.”
The #1,839 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,846 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Prater has been explained in more than one way by older surname scholars. One line of interpretation takes it from Middle English prater, meaning a talkative or chattering person, which would make it a nickname surname. Other writers connected it with French and Latin forms related to “priest” or with a Latin-looking spelling of an English word for a monastery refectory, but these are less secure and may reflect later guesswork or spelling confusion.
History
The name is recorded in English contexts and was treated by 19th- and early-20th-century onomasticians as a fairly uncommon surname with uncertain origins. Lower and Weekley both noted competing explanations, showing that the form could be influenced by Latinized spellings in records. In modern usage it survives chiefly in English-speaking countries, especially the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 1916 writer noted that Prater could be confused with Pretor and even with the Latin word praetor, showing how easily medieval spellings could blur different origins.
From the historical record
“Dial. E. prank, frolicsome] PRATER (A.-Fr.-Lat.) for the French Pritre= Priest [O.Ft. prestre, Lat. preshyter] PRATT (Fr.-Lat.) Dweller at a Meadow [O.Fr. prat (Fr. pr^, Lat. prat-um (a mea- dow), whence also South. Fr. prat, Ital. prato, Span, prado'] Prat and Duprat are common French surnames.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)