Piercy
A variant spelling of Percy, ultimately tied to the Norman place-name and noble family of Percy.
The #8,259 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 76,956 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally treated as a spelling variant of Percy, the famous Norman family name. The older sources connect Percy with a place-name in Normandy, usually explained from a word for a rocky or stony place. Some 19th-century writers also proposed other explanations, but the place-name origin is the standard one given in these references.
History
The name became prominent through the powerful Percy family of Northumberland, whose prestige helped spread the surname in England. Piercy and similar spellings appear as later English variants of Percy, alongside forms like Piercey and Piercy. In some cases the same surname was also influenced by the forename Pierce/Piers, so not every bearer necessarily descends from the Norman family line.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is linked to one of the best-known aristocratic families in English history, the Percys of Northumberland.
From the historical record
“PIERCEYl I = Pierce, Piers (q.v.) -I- the E. PIERCY /dim. suff. ->. 2 var. of Percy, q.v. PIERMAN, V. Pearman. PIERPOINT PIERPONT PIERREPONTJ (A.-Fr.-Lat.) Bel.toPierrepont”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)