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:
Cook is an occupational surname of English origin. Notable people with the surname include:
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 Welsh surname meaning "son of David". It is the second most common surname in Wales, a rank it shares with "Williams", and the eighth most common surname in England, where many people have Welsh ancestry. It is particularly widespread in southwest England, especially Cornwall, and in the areas of northwest England that are near the border with Wales.
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.
Cooper is a surname.
The surname Collins has a variety of likely origins in Britain and Ireland:
Rogers is an English patronymic surname deriving from the given name of Roger commonly used by the Normans and meaning "son of Roger". Variants include Rodgers.
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.
Carter is a family name, and also may be a given name. Carter is of Irish, Scottish and English origin and is an occupational name given to one who transports goods by cart or wagon and ultimately of Celtic derivation from the word "cairt" meaning cart, which is still used in Gaelic. This Celtic term has roots in the Proto-Indo-European word "kars" or "kart", which referred to a wheeled vehicle. It may also appear as an English reduced form of the Irish and Scottish Gaelic derived McCarter or the Scottish-Gaelic Mac Artair with Mc meaning "son of." Its appearance and pronunciation as Carter may also be the Anglicized form of the Irish Mac Artúir, Cuirtéir, Cartúir, Cartúr, or Ó Cuirtéir. The name is also related to the Latin carettarius meaning "cart driver" which was influenced by Celtic terminology and evolved into Norman French as "caretier." In Gaelic, the word "cairt" retained the meaning of "cart," and is used in a context that was familiar to and influenced by its earlier Celtic roots.
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").
The surname Mullins is of Irish origin, and is akin to Mullen and McMillan.
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.
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.
Oliver is a surname derived from the personal name Oliver. The Scottish Oliver family was a sept of the Scotland Highlands' powerful Clan Fraser of Lovat. There are many different Oliver families in North America.