Percival

French
"one who pierces the valley"

Percival Origin and Meaning

The name Percival is a boy's name of French origin meaning "one who pierces the valley".

There are several Percivals scattered through the Harry Potter series, which might help transform the old-fangled, fussy image it has accrued. Actually, the original Percival was the one perfectly pure Knight of the Round Table, a worthy hero. The name was invented in the twelfth century by a poet named Chretien de Troyes, for his ideal knight in the poem Percevale, a Knight of King Arthur.

Percival is found in other forms of literature as well, including Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White, and Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" contains a section devoted to Sir Percival. Wagner transformed the name to Parsifal for his opera.

Percy, which seems like a nickname for Percival but is really a stand-alone Norman place name, is beginning to attract some favorable attention from cutting-edge namers.

# 914 in the US

Percival Rank in US Top 1000

# 397 on Nameberry

Percival Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Percival Popularity

Famous People Named Percival

  • Percival Lawrence Lowell
    American businessman and astronomer
  • Percival Everett
    American novelist
  • Percival Green Spencer
    English balloonist
  • Percival Leitch Hussey
    Australian cricketer
  • Percival Drayton
    U.S. Navy captain
  • William Percival "Percy" Harvin
    American football player
  • Troy Percival
    American baseball player
  • Neil Percival Young
    Canadian singer,songwriter
  • Percival Serle
    Australian biographer

Percival in Pop Culture

  • Percival
    ocelot in Achievement Hunter's "Let's Play Minecraft" series
  • Sir Percival
    legendary Knight of the Round Table
  • Sir Percival Blakeney
    main character in the "Scarlet Pimpernel" series
  • Sir Percival Glyde
    character in "The Woman in White" (1860) by Wilkie Collins
  • Percival Ignatius "Percy" Weasley
    character in the Harry Potter series
  • Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore
    character in the Harry Potter series and son of Percival Dumbledore
  • Percival Pratt
    wizard poet in the Harry Potter series
  • Percival Graves
    character in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
  • Percival Spence Parks
    character in video game series "Resident Evil"
  • Percival "Perry" Cox
    doctor on the TV show "Scrubs"
  • Percival Dalton
    character on TV's "Little House on the Prairie"
  • Percival Wemys Madison
    character in book/movie "Lord of the Flies"
  • Percival C. McLeach
    villain in Disney's "The Rescuers Down Under"
  • Mr Percival
    pelican in Australian movie "Storm Boy"
  • Percival Pettigrew Pennington Pitt
    character in Jenny Nimmo's "The Children of the Red King" series
  • Percival Fredrickstein Von Musel Klossowski de Rolo III "Percy"
    a character in the Dungeons and Dragons series Critical Role
  • Charles Percival St. Cloud
    main character in movie "Charlie St. Cloud"
  • Percival
    Polish folk band
  • Percival
    British aircraft company