# Percival (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/percival/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname originating as a patronymic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | Welsh |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 3,317 |
| US rank (2010) | 9,767 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 93,080 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.4% (3,147 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɜː(ɹ)sɪvəl/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | Pursifull |

## Etymology

From Old French Perceval, name of a knight in a twelfth century Arthurian romance by the French poet Chrétien de Troyes. Shaped like Old French percier (“pierce”) + val (“valley”), but probably representing some Gaulish or Old Welsh name, possibly related to Welsh Peredur, from ber (“spear, lance”) (from Middle Welsh ber, from Proto-Brythonic *ber, from Proto-Celtic *beru (“spit”)) + dur (“hard metal, steel”) (see Latin durus). Cognate with German Parzival and Parsifal.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Percival in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 85% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 8.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.2% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.5% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Percival in Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

## People named Percival

- Arthur Percival, British army officer in the First and Second World Wars
- Lance Percival, British actor and comedian (1933-2015)
- Troy Percival, American baseball player

## Similar surnames

Prokop, Przybylski, Procopio, Perezperez, Prosper, Prajapati.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.