# Purvis (surname)

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

A surname from Middle English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 16,686 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,177 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 18,503 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.9% (16,381 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Purves |

## Etymology

Perhaps from Middle English purveys (“provisions, supplies”), hence a metonymic occupational surname for an official responsible of obtaining supplies.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Purvis 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) | 79% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 17% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.9% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.4% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.8% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Purvis in the United Kingdom and the United States.

## People named Purvis

- Jack Purvis, British actor (1937-1997)
- Marie Purvis, British cyclist
- Harriet Forten Purvis, American abolitionist (1810–1875)
- Rodney Purvis, American basketball player (born 1994)

## Similar surnames

Provost, Probst, Propst, Prevost, Propes, Probasco, Prabhakar.

## 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.