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Origin: |
Percy is an English surname derived from Percy-en-Auge in Normandy. The surname came to Britain with William de Percy (d.1096) who came to England just after the Conquest. He was the ancestor of a powerful feudal family who later became the Earls of Northumberland and then Dukes of Northumberland. The surname Percy may also have been reinforced by the surname Pearcey, Piercey, Piercy which derives from the Old French percher "to pierce" and haie "hedge," possibly used to refer to a hedge protecting a forest or military work. The surname may perhaps have been given to a poacher, or perhaps a 'warrior renowned for forcing his way through fortifications'.* Percy has also long been used as a short form of Percival, a name thought to have been invented by Chretien de Troyes for the hero of his 12th century Grail Romance Percevale. This, he derived from the Old French perce "pierce" and val "the valley." George Redmonds* also points out that, as a given name, Percy has a much-overlooked separate origin to the surname: that of diminutive of Piers (Pers, Peris) itself the English vernacular form of Peter (see below for examples). |
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Usage: |
The Percy family were one of the most powerful and wealthiest aristocratic families in Britain from the time of the Norman conquest. Alnwick Castle in Northumberland has been the family's seat since 1309. The 4th Baron Percy, Henry Percy (1341-1408) was a of Henry III on his mother's side. He was made Warden of the Marches by Edward III and later went on to support Richard II who made him the first Earl of Northumberland. However, when Richard elevated his rival Ralph Neville to Earl of Westmorland in 1397, Henry Percy supported the rebellion of Henry Bolingbroke, who later became King as Henry IV. Henry IV later appointed him Constable of England and granted him the lordship of the Isle of Man. Both Sir Henry Percy and his son, Sir Henry/Harry "Hotspur" Percy were immortalised as major characters in Shakespeare's Richard II, Henry IV, part 1, and Henry IV, part 2. Thomas Percy (1560-1605) was a member of the group behind the famous Gunpowder Plot. He was a distant relation of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland who appointed him constable of Alnwick Castle and made him responsible for the Percy family's northern estates. It is generally agreed that Percy was first adopted by families connected to the Percy family. One of the earliest example often cited is Lord Percy Seymour (1696-1721) son of the 6th Duke of Somerset and Lady Elizabeth Percy, the sole Percy heiress. His sister, Lady Catherine Seymour also used the name for her second son, Percy Wyndham-O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond (c. 1713–1774). However, an even earlier example is that of Percy Herbert, 2nd Baron Powis (1598–1667) whose maternal grandfather was Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland. One of the most famous bearers is English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1882). E.G.Withycombe points out that the "connection between the Shelley and Percy families was very remote: the poet's grandfather married (as his second wife) the heiress of the Sidneys, Earls of Leicester, and the 2nd Earl had in 1615 married Dorothy Percy, daughter of the 9th Earl of Northumberland. She was mother of Algernon Sidney, 'the patron saint of the Whigs', and it may have been Sir Timothy's Whiggism rather than his snobbishness which made him call his son Percy."* However, despite this clear use of Percy in the 17th century as a direct adoption of the surname Percy, George Redmonds has found even earlier examples of Percy in use as a given name which is unconnected to the surname, but rather a variant of Peter: "There is no doubt that Percy sometimes derives from the surname but it has a quite separate origin which never seems to be mentioned, and that is as a diminutive of Peter or Piers. The direct evidence for the diminutive goes back to the year 1600 when 'Percy alias Peter' Stanley of Womersley died: a later example is 'Percy or Pearce' Tempest of Tong in 1653. In other cases the evidence is not explicit. For example Percy Watson of Newholme in Lythe (1657) was almost certainly the Peter Watson baptised in 1635. A much later example is the baptism in 1730 of Parcy, the son of Thomas Beadel of Drypool.[...] A will for John Percy of Scarborough, a rich merchant who died in 1500, is worth quoting in this context. His family had a long connection with the town, at least back to the reign of Edward III when Peter Percy was the Scarborough MP. A footnote to the will traces several generations of Percys, ending with another Peter Percy of Scarborough who was buried in 1517. The references to these individuals are interesting. For example, in his will John Percy referred to his brother Peter three times, once as 'Peyrs Peyrse', once as 'Perse Percy' and finally as 'the whiche Peyrse': his own son and grandson were both named as 'Petyr Percy'. It is difficult to know what to say about this except that it identifies Petyr and Peyrs as alternative forms of the first name, but it seems also to confirm that Peter and the surname Percy were connected in the mind of the testator. If that were true it would suggest that the use of Percy as a diminutive of Peter may go back earlier than the examples I have quoted."* Redmonds has even noted early examples of Percy in use as a girl's name, pointing out the baptism in 1598 of Percye, the daughter of Henry Farrer of Beverley—which he attests to "a branch of the Percy family [having] lived in the town from 1597"—and also the Hampsthwaite parish burial register contains the names of Piercie Holm, widow (1728) and Percival Holm, spinster (1743). This last entry, he thinks, suggests that Percy as a girls' name may also have been a familiar form of Percival, especially as it was in this part of Lower Wharfedale that Percival as a boys' name was quite popular in the sixteenth century. Despite it's earlier use, Percy only really became established as a given name in the 19th century. At this time, other aristocratic surnames such as Stanley, Sidney, Neville and Clifford became fashionable, and perhaps Percy's connection to the medieval world—especially thanks to Shakespeare's Harry "Hotspur" Percy—may have been fuelled by the Victorian's love of medievalism. Percy grew significantly in use in the mid-19th century, reaching the top 100 by the late 1850s in England and Wales.
It is unsurprising, then, that Percy did not rank at all in the top 100 in Scotland in 1900 while in England it was in the top 25 from 1880 to 1904. Birth rankings for Percy in the England and Wales Birth Index:
Like most late Victorian favourites, Percy fell out of favour by the mid-20th century. From barely ranking at all in the late 1990s, Percy saw a modest rise over the beginning of the 21st century, reaching the top 1000 again in 2011. Since then it has continued to rise, reaching #439 with 96 births in 2017. Regional data from 2017, however, shows that Percy (which ranked #439 overall) actually varies wildly in usage across the country. It is most common in the south of England and least popular in London and the North East:
In Scotland, the name is much rarer. Since 1974, it has been registered for one boy in the years 1986, 1989, 2002, 2004, 2010, 2015 and 2016 only and for 2 boys in both 2017 and 2018. In 2018, Percy ranked #897 in Scotland. |
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Famous Bearers: |
History: * Percy Herbert, 2nd Baron Powis (1598–1667), English writer and politician. Contemporary: * Percy Heath (1923-2005), American jazz bassist. Literature and Other Media: * Sir Percy Blakeney, the Scarlet Pimpernel in Baroness Orczy's 1905 novel of the same name and various related works. |
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Variants: |
Persie |
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Pronunciation: |
PURS-ee [key] |
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Possible longer forms: |
Percival, Perseus |
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Sibling Names: |
Olive Jemima Flora Lois Agnes Etta |
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Name Lists: |
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Thanks to Rose for requesting this name.
