PIERSON
Pierson is a surname of English origin found principally among people in the British Isles and among descendants in English-speaking countries. The name is patronymic, indicating descent from a man called Peter. The given name Peter itself derives from the Greek Petros, meaning “rock” or “stone”. Consequently the surname Pierson literally denotes a “son of Peter”. The name was popular across medieval Europe, partly because of its association with the apostle Simon bar Jonah, whom the early Christian Church honoured when christening the saint after the Christian New Testament narrative in which Christ said, “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church”.
The medieval personal name Piers—the usual English vernacular form of Peter—was adopted from the Old French Pierre, which itself entered English after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Latinised form Petrus is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, and the name spread widely throughout England. This popularity produced a range of patronymic surnames, including Pearson, Pierson and Peirson. Early documentary evidence of the Pierson spelling appears in the 14th century: John Pierisson (1332, Warwickshire), Robert Peresson (1395, Yorkshire) and William Pierson (1412, Lancashire). The earliest recorded spelling of the name in a national record is Richard Peresone (1327) in the Exchequer Lay Subsidy Rolls of Somerset during the reign of King Edward the First, known as “The Father of the Navy”.
The Pierson family traditionally claims a distinct coat of arms, a field per fesse embattled gules and azure, containing three suns in splendour ore; the crest is described as a paroquet arising from a ducal coronet ore. A notable early emigrant of the name was Cutbert Peirson, who settled at “the Indian thickett” near Elizabeth City in Virginia in 1623, representing the surname’s migration to the American colonies. These factual strands illustrate the enduring historical footprint of the Pierson surname throughout the English-speaking world.
Typical given names associated with the Pierson surname
Male
- Andrew
- Brian
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Richard
- Robert
- William
Female
- Anne
- Brenda
- Clare
- Elizabeth
- Joan
- Kerry
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Mary
- Sara
- Sharon
- Susan
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
- Pearse
- Pearson
- Peirson
- Persson
- Pearce
- Pierce
- Parson
- Parsons
- Parsens
- Parison
- Paerson
- Parsson
- Parssons
- Parsen
- Pearsen
- Pearsons
- Pearsson
- Peerson
- Pehrson
- Pehrsson
- Perason
- Peresson
- Perison
- Perrison
- Perrson
- Persen
- Persion
- Person
- Persons
- Peurson
- Piarson
- Piersons
- Pierston
- Pirieson
- Pirson
- Poirson
- Porison
- Porson
- Pursen
- Purson
- Parsno
- Pauson
- Pausons
- Pawson
- Pawsons
- Pearison
- Pearsn
- Pearso
- Pearsom
- Pieron
- Preson
- Presson
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Pierson in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 940 people named Pierson in the UK. That makes it roughly the 7,725th most common surname in Britain. Around 14 in a million people in Britain are named Pierson.
Surname type: From name of parent
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Pierson
- Emma Pierson - Actress
- Kate Pierson - American singer, lyricist, multi-instrumentalist
- Rex Pierson - Aerospace engineer (1891 to 1948)
- Adrian Pierson - Cricketer
- Henry Hugh Pierson - Composer (1815 to 1873)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.