Prevost (surname)

Prevost is a surname which ultimately comes from the Latin praepositus. The French name Prevost (or Prévost) is derived from the Old French word prevost, meaning "provost".^[1] The Northwest Italian name is derived from the Piedmontese or Lombard prevòst, customarily meaning 'parish priest'.^[2] The English name has two etymologies: it is either of French Huguenot origin from the French name; or it is an occupational name of English origin from the Middle English prevost or prefost, which are cognates with the French.^[1]

Notable people with the surname include:

• Abbé Prévost (1697–1763), French novelist
• André Prévost (composer) (1934–2001), Canadian composer
• Augustine Prévost (1723–1786), British general
• Charles Prévost (chemist) (1899–1983), French chemist
• Codie Prevost (born 1984), Canadian country singer
• Constant Prévost (1787–1856), French geologist
• Daniel Prévost (born 1939), French actor
• Eddie Prévost (born 1942), English percussionist
• Eugène Prévost (carpenter) (1898–1965), founder of Prevost Car
• Eugène Prévost (cyclist) (1863–1961), French cyclist
• Eugène Prévost (musician) (1809–1872), French composer and conductor
• Florent Prévost (1794–1870), French naturalist
• Françoise Prévost (dancer) (1680–1741), French dancer
• Françoise Prévost (actress) (1930–1997), French actress
• Gédéon-Mélasippe Prévost (1817–1887), Canadian notary and politician
• George Prevost (1767–1816), British general and governor
• George Prevost McKay (1840–1924), Canadian business executive and politician
• Hippolyte Prévost [fr] (1808–1873), inventor of a stenography system; see Théodore-Pierre Bertin
• Isaac-Bénédict Prévost (1755–1819), Swiss theologian, plant pathologist and naturalist
• James Charles Prevost (1810–1891), British admiral
• Jean Prévost (1901–1944), French writer and Resistance fighter
• Jean Prévost (politician) (1870–1915), Canadian lawyer, journalist and politician
• Jean-Louis Prévost (1838–1927), Swiss neurologist and physiologist
• Jean-Louis Prévost (1790–1850), French botanical artist
• Joël Prévost (1950–2024), French singer
• Leonardo Prevost (born 1971), Cuban sprinter
• Louis Prévost de Sansac (1496–1576), a Marshal of France
• Lucien-Anatole Prévost-Paradol (1829–1870), French journalist and essayist
• Madame Prévost (fl. 1830) French pioneer florist
• Marcel Prévost (1862–1941), French writer
• Marie Prevost (1896–1937), Canadian actress
• Maurice Prévost (1887–1948), French pioneer aviator
• Michael Prevost (born 1953), German-Canadian boxer
• Michèle Prévost (born 1955), Canadian civil engineer
• Nicholas Le Prevost (born 1947), English actor
• Pierre Prévost (physicist) (1751–1839), Swiss philosopher and physicist
• Pierre André Prévost de La Prévostière, French politician, governor general of Pondicherry
• Robert Prévost (1927–1982), Canadian set designer
• Robert Francis Prevost (born 1955), American-Peruvian Catholic prelate of the Order of Saint Augustine; elected Pope Leo XIV in 2025
• Victor Prevost (1820–1881), American photographer
• Wilfrid Prévost (1832–1898), Canadian lawyer and politician
• Yves Prévost (1908–1997), Canadian lawyer and politician
• Yvonne Prévost (1878–1942), French tennis player