Pierce
A surname that usually means “son of Peter,” from the medieval given names Piers or Pierce.
The #202 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 2,227 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Pierce is generally a patronymic surname built on the medieval given name Piers or Pierce, which themselves come from Old French Pierre and ultimately Latin Petrus, meaning “Peter.” In other words, the name began as a way of identifying someone as the son or descendant of a man called Peter. Some 19th-century writers also treated Pierce as a spelling or regional form of Piers rather than a fully separate surname.
History
The name was established in medieval England and later spread widely through the English-speaking world. Historical examples include prominent English and Irish bearers, and the surname also appears in related forms such as Piers, Pearce, and Peers. By the 19th and 20th centuries Pierce had become a common fixed family name rather than a transparent patronymic.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One historical note in the sources links Pierce to Sir Pierce Butler, an Anglo-Irish nobleman from the 16th century.
From the historical record
“PIER, the F^pnch Pierre, Lat. Petr-us: v. Peter. PIERCE, V. Piers. PIERCEYl I = Pierce, Piers (q.v.) -I- the E. PIERCY /dim. suff. ->. 2 var. of Percy, q.v. PIERMAN, V. Pearman. PIERPOINT PIERPONT PIERREPONTJ”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)