From an English surname which was derived from the name of a Norman town
Perci, which was itself perhaps derived from a Gaulish given name which was Latinized as
Persius. The surname was borne by a noble English family, and it first used as a given name in their honour. A famous bearer was Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), an English romantic poet whose works include 'Adonais' and 'Ozymandias'. This name can also be used as a short form of
PERCIVAL.
| PERCIVAL male Arthurian Romance, EnglishCreated by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his poem 'Perceval, the Story of the Grail'. In the poem Perceval was one of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table who was given a glimpse of the Holy Grail. The character (and probably the name) of Perceval was based on that of the Welsh hero PEREDUR. The spelling was perhaps altered under the influence of Old French percer val "to pierce the valley". |
| | PEREDUR male Welsh Mythology, Arthurian RomancePossibly means "hard spears" in Welsh. This was the name of several figures from Welsh mythology. It was later used by the 12th-century chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth in his Arthurian tales. The character of Percival was probably based on him. |