Percy
A Norman surname from a place in northern France, later made famous by the powerful Percy family of England.
The #7,837 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 73,059 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Percy is a locational surname taken from places in Normandy and nearby France, especially Percy near St-Lô. The medieval form is linked to a Latinized place-name such as Perciacus or Perceium, meaning the estate or settlement associated with a person named Persius. The deeper root behind Persius is uncertain, though older writers connected it with the classical name Perseus.
History
The name was brought to England by the Norman Percy family after the Conquest, and William de Percy appears early in Domesday Book as a major landholder. The surname then spread beyond the original noble line and became established more widely in England. It is especially associated with the earls and dukes of Northumberland.
Origin
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Fun fact
The Percy family became one of the most famous aristocratic houses in medieval England, and their name is still strongly tied to Northumberland.
From the historical record
“PERCEY"! (Fr.-Lat.) Bel. to Percy (Norraan- PERCY 1 dy), Percey (Yonne, Haute-Marne, &c.) = Persius' Estate [Percy, Calvados, was Perceium A.D. . 1 198 : -eium was fre- quently used as an equiv. of the Lat.-Gaul. possess, suff. -dc-um. Persius is prob. borrowed from the Gr. Perseus (Uepa-eis), app. a der. f. Gr.…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)