Perea
A surname most likely linked to the ancient region of Perea beyond the Jordan, used as a geographical name.
The #3,124 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 26,740 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Perea is best understood as a place-based surname. The name matches Perea, the historical region east of the Jordan River, whose name ultimately comes from Greek and means “the land beyond” or “across.” As a surname, it would likely have been adopted to identify someone from that place or from a settlement named after it.
History
Because the only provided historical excerpt mentions Perea as a place-name rather than explaining the surname, this entry is based on general onomastic pattern. The surname is found mainly in Spanish-speaking contexts, where locational surnames often derive from towns, regions, or older geographic terms. In the United States it is relatively uncommon, but it is established enough to appear in census data.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Perea is also the name of an ancient territory mentioned in biblical and historical-geographical writing as being east of the Jordan River.
From the historical record
“Barnea, Paran, Edom, Uz, Teman, Tema, Rabbeth, Ur, Oal- dea (Chaldea?), Warka, Kutha, Padan, Aram, Haran, Har- ran, Hauran, Cheeber (Chebar), Perea, Gilead, Argob, Resen, Ereck (Erech?), Bashan, Tibma (Sibma), Achor, Mizpo (Mizpah), Shiloh, Luz, Beth, Bethel, Bethany, Bettany, Beth- lehem, Bethleheim, Nazareth…”
— A Grammar of American Surnames