Dear Johnny,

> Also I believe that there is a man named William Pruitt that works
> as a translator in the Pali text society. Their does not seem to be
> any similar family ancestry.

As well as Buddhist stuff, I also do a bit of genealogy -- so unbuddhist !
But I can tell you that actually there may be a connection if your family
name is of British origin and has remained unchanged. It is a very rare
surname. In the 1881 census, there are only 5 Pruitts listed of whom 4
lived in Lanarkshire in Scotland and 1 in Monmouthshire in Wales. A
variation of the surname, Pruit, is equally rare -- only 6 individuals, 5
who lived in Devonshire and one in Derbyshire. In each case, they are
probably all members of one single family. But there is also another
variants: Pruwett, still fairly rare, mainly from Gloucestershire and
Wiltshire, and Pruett also mainly from Gloucestershire. If you have an
American connection, there were Pruetts etc in Virginia as early as 1636.
In pre-modern times when spellings were not fixed, you will find the same
person with the surname spelt differently at different times as above.
Looking at the distribution, my guess is that your ancestors came from the
Gloucestershire/Wiltshire area. Further investigations charged at the
usual rates :)

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge