Origin | |
---|---|
Language(s) | Old English & Welsh |
Meaning | One who dwells by a pear tree (Geographical); quarryman (English) Son of Harry (Welsh) |
Region of origin | England & Wales |
Perry is a surname with several distinct origins. In England, deriving from the Old English pyrige (pear tree), referring to one who dwells by a pear tree, [1] while in Wales Perry, along with Parry, arose as patronymics, via a shortening of "ap Harry" (son of Harry). There are some variants in the Romance languages (derived from Latin):[ clarification needed ] Pereira, Pereyra, Pereyro, Pereiro, Pereiros, Pereire, Perera, Perer, Perero, Pereros; [2] the Norman French perrieur (quarry), possibly referring to a quarryman. [2] Perry was recorded as a surname from the late 16th century in villages near Colchester, Essex, East England, such as Lexden and Copford. [3] Perry has some resemblance with the Portuguese common surname Pereira, which means pear tree in the Portuguese language. Because of that, many Portuguese immigrants to the USA (especially Massachusetts and the San Francisco Bay Area) chose to "Americanize" their Pereira surname to Perry. The Italian surname, Perri, related to "Peter", is also often Americanized to Perry.
At the time of the United Kingdom Census of 1881, the frequency of the surname Perry was highest in the following counties: [4]
As of 2014, the frequency of the surname was highest in the following countries and territories: [4]
As of 2014, 67.0% of all known bearers of the surname Perry were residents of the United States. The frequency of the surname was higher than national average in the following U.S. states:
The frequency of the surname was highest (over 10 times the national average) in the following U.S. counties:
Blake is a surname which originated from Old English. Its derivation is uncertain; it could come from "blac", a nickname for someone who had dark hair or skin, or from "blaac", a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin. Another theory, presumably in the belief it is a Welsh patronymic in origin, for which there is no evidence, was that it is a corruption of "Ap Lake", meaning "Son of Lake".
Davies is a patronymic surname of Welsh origin. There are two main theories concerning its beginnings, neither of which has been definitively proved. The first theory states that it may be a corruption of "Dyfed", the name of a medieval Welsh kingdom located in what is now Carmarthenshire; however, the origin of the kingdom's name is itself disputed, with the traditional belief being that it was founded by the powerful Irish Déisi dynasty in the third century, or otherwise that it derives from the name of the Demetae people. "Dyfed" as a surname and the related first name "Dafydd" appear from the 12th century, with the latter generally translated into English as "David". The second theory contends that the surname may derive directly from the Hebrew name "David", which is also the name of Wales' patron saint.
White is a surname either of English or of Scottish and Irish origin, the latter being an anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic MacGillebhàin, "Son of the fair gillie" and the Irish "Mac Faoitigh" or "de Faoite". It is the seventeenth most common surname in England. In the 1990 United States Census, "White" ranked fourteenth among all reported surnames in frequency, accounting for 0.28% of the population. By 2000, White had fallen to position 20 in the United States and 22nd position by 2014
Ellis is a surname of Welsh and English origin. An independent French origin of the surname is said to derive from the phrase fleur-de-lis. It has also been noted to be a Jewish surname.
McDermott or MacDermott is an Irish surname from County Roscommon and is mostly found in the west of Ireland. Some notable people with the surname are listed below.
Mason is an occupational surname of Scottish and English origin, with variations also found in Italian and French, historically referring to someone who performed stonemasonry work. The surname Mason was originally brought to England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The name Mason is for a stone-mason. The name was originally derived from the Old English or Old French word masson.
Bell is a surname common in English speaking countries with several word-origins.
Edwards is a patronymic surname of English origin, meaning "son of Edward". Edwards is the 14th most common surname in Wales and 21st most common in England. Within the United States, it was ranked as the 49th-most common surname as surveyed in 1990, falling to 51st in 2014.
Corey is a masculine given name and a surname. It is a masculine version of name Cora, which has Greek origins and is the maiden name of the goddess Persephone. The name also can have origins from the Gaelic word coire, which means "in a cauldron" or "in a hollow".
Riley is a surname of English origin, as well as an Anglicized version of an Irish surname.
The surname Burns has several origins. In some cases, it derived from the Middle English or Scots burn, and originated as a topographic name for an individual who lived by a stream. In other cases the surname is a variant form of the surname Burnhouse, which originated as a habitational name, derived from a place name made up of the word elements burn and house. In other cases the surname Burns originated as a nickname meaning "burn house". In other cases, the surname Burns is an Anglicised form of the Irish Ó Broin, which means "descendant of Bran". In some cases the surname Burns is an Americanized form of the Jewish surname Bernstein, which is derived from the German bernstein ("amber").
Morgan is a surname of Welsh origin.
The surname Mullins is of Irish origin, and is akin to Mullen and McMillan.
Grant is an English, Scottish, and French surname derived from the French graund meaning 'tall' or 'large'. It was originally a nickname given to those with remarkable size.
Robinson is an English language patronymic surname, originating in England. It means "son of Robin ". There are similar surname spellings such as Robison and Robeson. Robinson is the 15th-most common surname in the United Kingdom. According to the 1990 United States Census, Robinson was the twentieth most frequently encountered surname among those reported, accounting for 0.23% of the population.
Harrison is a common patronymic surname of Northern English origin. It means "son of Harry" or "Herry", due to the Middle English pronunciation of the given name Henry. It was first recorded in the 14th century. It may also be spelt Harrisson, Harryson or Harrysson. Henrison also appears in historical records, but has fallen out of use. Early records suggest that the surnames Harrison and Harris were used interchangeably by some families.
Norman is both a surname and a given name. The surname has multiple origins including English, Irish, Scottish, German, French, Norwegian, Ashkenazi Jewish, and Jewish American. The given name Norman is mostly of English origin, though in some cases it can be an Anglicised form of a Scottish Gaelic personal name.
Thompson is a surname of English, Irish and Scottish origin which is a variant of Thomson, meaning 'son of Thom'. An alternative origin may be geographical, arising from the parish of Thompson in Norfolk. During the Plantation period, settlers carried the name to Ireland. Thom(p)son is also the English translation of MacTavish, which is the Anglicised version of the Gaelic name MacTamhais.
Mitchell or Mitchel is an English, Scottish and Irish surname with three etymological origins. In some cases, the name is derived from the Middle English and Old French name Michel, a vernacular form of the name Michael. The personal name Michael is ultimately derived from a Hebrew name, meaning "Who is like God". In other cases, the surname is derived from the Middle English words michel, mechel, and muchel, meaning "big". In some cases, the surname was adopted as an equivalent of Mulvihill; this English-language surname is derived from the Irish-language Ó Maoilmhichíl, meaning "descendant of the devotee of St. Michael".
Crawford is a surname and a given name of English and Scottish origins.