Percy

English

Etymology

Norman baronial surname from a place in Normandy (Percy-en-Auge), Old French Perci, , from the Gallo-Roman personal name Persius.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɝsi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)si

Proper noun

Percy

1. An English surname from Old French.
   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iv]:

     Hotspur. My name is Harry Percy.
     Prince. Why, then, I see / A very valiant rebel of that name. / I am the Prince of Wales; and think not, Percy, / To share with me in glory any more.

2. A male given name transferred from the surname, of Middle Ages and later usage.
   • 2008 Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture, Faber and Faber, →ISBN, pages 198 - 199:

     I have written again to ask if I may visit there sometime soon, and talk to the administrator, who it turns out is an old acquaintance, a man called Percival Quinn, I think the only Percy I have heard of in the present era, let alone met.

3. A place name:
   1. A commune in Isère department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France.
   2. A village in the Manche department, Normandy, France.
   3. A village in Randolph County, Illinois, United States.
   4. An unincorporated community in Washington County, Mississippi, United States.
   5. A township in Kittson County, Minnesota, United States.

Usage notes

• Also used as a pet form of Piers and Percival.

Derived terms

• Bolton Percy
• Kilnwick Percy
• Percy Main

Anagrams

• Pryce, crepy, crêpy, pryce

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Swedish

Etymology

From English Percy. First recorded as a Swedish given name in 1845. By folk etymology associated with Per (“Peter”).

Proper noun

Percy c (genitive Percys)

1. a male given name
   • 2010 Susanna Alakoski, Håpas du trifs bra i fengelset, Bonniers, →ISBN, page 117:

     Samipojkar skulle bli jobbare, det var ett bra yrke för sådana som hette Conny och Sonny också. […] Och på hjälputbildningar runt om i landet skojlärde vi oss Y-barnsregeln. Varning för alla namn som slutar på Y!: Ronny, Tommy, Billy, Tony, Eddy, Lenny, Jimmy, Benny, Jerry, Freddy.

     Så skojades det. Menades det, kanske.

     Men Percypojkarna blev ju sällan raggare och bråkstakar...

     Undantaget som bekräftade regeln, skojade vi på.