Perry
A common English and Welsh surname with two main roots: either “pear tree” or a shortened form of Parry, meaning “son of Harry.”
The #103 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,392 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Perry has more than one historical source. In English records it can be a topographic name for someone who lived by a pear tree, from Middle English and Old English words for “pear tree”; early spellings include forms like de la Pirie and atte Perye. It was also used in Wales and border areas as a reduced form of Parry, itself a patronymic from Ap Harry, meaning “son of Harry” or Henry.
History
Early records show Perry in medieval England, especially in county and poll-tax documents. The name also appears in Welsh and Welsh-border usage through the Parry connection, which helped spread it widely. Because both explanations are historically attested, modern Perry families may descend from either line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some early spellings point directly to a pear tree, and one 14th-century form, atte Perye, literally means “at the pear tree.”
From the historical record
“Robert Perot. — Hund. Rolls. PERRY (Eng.) Dweller by a Pear-Tree \M.K. perye, pirie, pyrie, O.E. pirige] Richard de la Pirie. — Hund. Rolls, A.D. 1274. William atte Perye. — Close Rolls, A.D. 1352. Pyries and plum trees”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)