# Percy (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/percy/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Norman |
| Meaning | “a baronial surname”, “a place in pays d’auge”, “normandy”, “france”, “percy in auge”, “a gallo-roman nomen gentile”, “mask”, “penis” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɜɹsi/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 32,840 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 32,204 / 636 (2% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,550, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Proper noun senses 1 (surname) and 3 (place names) are derived from Norman Percy (“a baronial surname”), from Percy-en-Auge (“a place in Pays d’Auge, Normandy, France”, literally “Percy in Auge”), from Old French Perci, from Late Latin Persiacum, from Latin Persius (“a Gallo-Roman nomen gentile”), from Etruscan 𐌐𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (persu); further etymology uncertain, possibly from 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask”). Proper noun sense 2 (given name) is either from the above, or is a clipping of Perc(ival) + -y (suffix forming familiar names). The common noun is derived from the proper noun. Sense 2 (“penis”) is probably from the fact that Percy and penis begin with the same letter.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 7 | 5,706 |
| 1963 | 7 | 5,741 |
| 1965 | 5 | 7,254 |
| 1966 | 5 | 7,332 |
| 1967 | 6 | 6,582 |
| 1968 | 5 | 7,866 |
| 1969 | 5 | 8,336 |
| 2014 | 6 | 16,066 |
| 2016 | 5 | 18,220 |
| 2019 | 9 | 11,166 |
| 2020 | 7 | 13,137 |
| 2021 | 5 | 17,082 |
| 2023 | 12 | 8,856 |
| 2024 | 12 | 8,830 |
| 2025 | 10 | 9,941 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 39 | 2,983 |
| 2012 | 60 | 2,201 |
| 2013 | 61 | 2,175 |
| 2014 | 70 | 2,037 |
| 2015 | 58 | 2,291 |
| 2016 | 47 | 2,652 |
| 2017 | 73 | 1,969 |
| 2018 | 63 | 2,205 |
| 2019 | 45 | 2,794 |
| 2020 | 69 | 2,061 |
| 2021 | 87 | 1,813 |
| 2022 | 112 | 1,586 |
| 2023 | 112 | 1,564 |
| 2024 | 157 | 1,260 |
| 2025 | 154 | 1,279 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 3 | 5,591 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 34 | 852 |
| 2012 | 30 | 962 |
| 2013 | 46 | 709 |
| 2014 | 59 | 597 |
| 2015 | 81 | 485 |
| 2016 | 83 | 486 |
| 2017 | 96 | 439 |
| 2018 | 107 | 399 |
| 2019 | 128 | 347 |
| 2020 | 129 | 347 |
| 2021 | 131 | 341 |
| 2022 | 120 | 353 |
| 2023 | 112 | 366 |
| 2024 | 133 | 332 |
| 2025 | 152 | 299 |

## In other languages

- French: Percy
- Greek: Πέρσι

## People named Percy

- Percy Bysshe Shelley, British Romantic poet (1792–1822)
- Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist
- Percy Sledge, American singer (1941–2015)
- Walter Percy Chrysler Sr., (1875-1940) American automotive industry executive
- Percy Fawcett, British explorer, anthropologist and archaeologist (1867–1925)
- Percy Grainger, Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist (1882–1961)
- Percy Spencer, American engineer and inventor (1894–1970)
- Percy Hynes White, Canadian actor
- Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (1908–1982)
- Percy Hobart, British Army general (1885–1957)
- Percy Heath, American musician (1923–2005)
- Percy Hodge, British athlete (1890–1967)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.