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/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)si

Proper noun

Percy

1. An English surname from Old French
2. A male given name transferred from the surname, of Middle Ages and later usage.

Usage notes

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

Quotations

• ~1597 William Shakespeare: First Part of King Henry the Fourth: 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.

• 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.

Anagrams

• Pryce, crepy, crêpy

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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.