Percival

English

Alternative forms

• (surname): 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɜː(ɹ)sɪvəl/

Proper noun

Percival

1. A male given name from the Celtic languages.
   • 1953, Agatha Christie, A Pocket Full of Rye, page 20:

     Lancelot Fortescue! What a name! And what was the other son - Percival? He wondered what the first Mrs Fortescue had been like? She had a curious taste in Christian names...

2. A surname originating as a patronymic.
3. An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fremont County, Iowa, United States.
4. A former hamlet in Saskatchewan, Canada.