Boy · Old French
Percival
Say it: PER-sih-vul
Meaning
From Old French Perceval, Arthurian; folk 'pierce the valley' etymology is unproven.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Taken from Arthurian romance.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 1,099 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1881, about 1 in 14,400 boys
- 46 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Perceval
| French | Perceval |
|---|
Famous bearers
- Sir Percival, Knight of the Round Table
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The medieval Arthurian romances
- Parish baptism registers
- Well-known works of literature
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.