Perry Family Genealogy and Variant Spellings

This English surname has been well known in Munster since the 17th century. It is now found mainly in Ulster. The name was taken by settlers from England and Scotland. PERRY was a locational name 'the dweller by the pear tree'. Local names usually denoted where a man held his land, and indicated where he actually lived. The name was brought into England in the wake of the Norman Conquest of 1066. Early records of the name mention Henry de Pieri of the County of Kent in 1176. Walter atte-pyrie of the County of Oxfordshire in was documented in the year 1273. Roger de la Peyre of the County of Cambridgeshire in 1300. Edward de Pery of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. Richard de la Pirie of the County of Oxfordshire in 1488. Daniel Perry and Elizabeth Pye were married in London in 1619. Thomas, son of William Perry, was baptised at St. Peter, Cornhill, London in 1644. Most of the European surnames in countries such as England, Scotland and France were formed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The process had started somewhat earlier and had continued in some places into the 19th century, but the norm is that in the tenth and eleventh centuries people did not have surnames, whereas by the fifteenth century most of the population had acquired a second name. At first the coat of arms was a practical matter which served a function on the battlefield and in tournaments. With his helmet covering his face, and armour encasing the knight from head to foot, the only means of identification for his followers, was the insignia painted on his shield and embroidered on his surcoat, the flowing and draped garment worn over the armour. It has long been a matter of doubt when the bearing of coats of arms first became hereditary and it was not until the Crusades that Heraldry came into general use. Men went into battle heavily armed and were difficult to recognise. It became the custom for them to adorn their helmets with distinctive crests, and to paint their shields with animals and the like. Coats of arms accompanied the development of surnames, becoming hereditary in the same way.

Last name origins & meanings: Welsh: Anglicized form of Welsh ap Herry ‘son of Herry’, a variant of Harry (see Harris).

English: topographic name for someone who lived near a pear tree, Middle English per(r)ie (Old English pyrige, a derivative of pere ‘pear’). This surname and a number of variants have been established in Ireland since the 17th century.

Possibly derived from the old French "perrier" or "perrieur," for quarry, in which case it denoted one who worked in a quarry or who lived in a rocky location.

Surname Origin: English, French, Welsh

Alternate Surname Spellings: PIRRIE, PERY, PEERY, PARRY