This interesting name, of Anglo-Saxon origin, is from a metonymic occupational surname for a maker or user of various pointed instruments. The derivation is from the Olde English pre 7th Century "pric(a)", the Middle English "prik(e)" or "prich", meaning a point. It is also possible that this is a nickname surname for a tall thin man, with the same derivation as above. In the modern idiom, the variants are Pricher and Prickman, and the diminutives are Prickett, Pritchet(t), and Pritcahtt. The following examples illustrate the name development since 1175 (see below): Geoffrey Pricke, of Norfolk, 1221; Alice Priche (1295, Ecclesiastical Records of Barnwell, Cambridgeshire); and Simon Prike (1340, Feet of Fines of Suffolk). One James Pryke, the son of William and Judia Pryke, was christened on April 15th 1792, at St. Paul's, Deptford. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hamo Prichere, which was dated 1175, in the "Pipe Rolls of Dorset", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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