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Surname Etymology and Meaning of PERCIVAL

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Name meanings and etymologies are often disputed. The information here is compiled from freely available sources, and no claims whatsoever are made for accuracy, either historical or etymological.

1. from the personal name Perceval, first found as the name of the hero of an epic poem by the 12th-century French poet Crestien de Troyes, describing the quest for the holy grail. The origin of the name is uncertain; it may be associated with the Gaulish personal name Pritorix or it may be an alteration of the Celtic name Peredur (see Priddy). It seems to have been altered as the result of folk etymological association with Old French perce(r) ‘to pierce or breach’ + val ‘valley’.
2. Norman habitational name from either of the two places in Calvados named Perceval.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names (2003)