Explore the Family Name Pretlow

The meaning of Pretlow

Probably altered form of English Pretlove: nickname from Middle English priken ‘to stab, pierce’ + Old French love ‘wolf’ (Anglo-Norman French louf), presumably for a hunter of wolves. It is found mainly among African Americans in VA and MD.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Pretlow in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Pretlow has seen an increase in popularity between 2000 and 2010. In the year 2000, Pretlow was ranked 42,677th in popularity and by the year 2010, it had ascended to the 41,886th position, marking a 1.85% rise. The count of individuals with the Pretlow surname also increased from 478 to 519 during this period, representing an 8.58% growth. However, the proportion per 100k remained steady at 0.18.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#42,677	#41,886	1.85%
Count	478	519	8.58%
Proportion per 100k	0.18	0.18	0%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Pretlow

Regarding ethnic identity, the census data reveals some changes for those bearing the Pretlow surname between 2000 and 2010. There were no recorded instances of Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native ethnicity. However, we can note an increase in the percentage of individuals identifying with two or more races (from 3.14% to 5.59%) and Hispanic ethnicity (from 3.14% to 5.20%). Meanwhile, the percentage of white individuals decreased from 13.39% to 12.14%, and there was a slight decrease in the percentage of Black individuals, from 79.50% to 76.11%. This data reflects the diverse ethnic identities associated with the Pretlow surname based on the Decennial U.S. Census.

	2000	2010	Change
Black	79.5%	76.11%	-4.26%
White	13.39%	12.14%	-9.34%
Two or More Races	3.14%	5.59%	78.03%
Hispanic	3.14%	5.2%	65.61%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%