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PRINCE Family History

This noble name, with variant spelling Prins, and the French cognate Leprince, derives from the Old French, (Middle English) "Prince", ultimately from the Latin "Princeps", from "primus", first, and "capere", to take, and was originally given as a distinguishing nickname to someone who behaved in a regal fashion, or to one who had played the part of a prince in a medieval pageant. The surname was first recorded in the latter part of the 12th Century (see below), and other early recordings include: Robert le Prins, recorded in the 1327 Subsidy Rolls of Sussex, and Willelmus Prynce, in the 1379 Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire.