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ArchivesRe: i would like to find the origin and meaning of my last name
in reply to a message by Angie
Scottish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac an Phearsain ‘son of the parson’ (see Parsons). This is the surname of various ecclesiastical families in Aberdeenshire and Argyll; it is also established in northern Ireland.
PARSONS:
1. English: occupational name for the servant of a parish priest or parson, or a patronymic denoting the child of a parson, from the possessive case of Middle English persone, parsoun (see Parson).
2. English: many early examples are found with prepositions (e.g. Ralph del Persones 1323); these are habitational names, with the omission of house, hence in effect occupational names for servants employed at the parson’s house.
PARSON:
English: from Middle English persone, parsoun ‘parish priest’, ‘parson’ (Old French persone, from Latin persona ‘person’, ‘character’), hence a status name for a parish priest or perhaps a nickname for a devout man. The reasons for the semantic shift from ‘person’ to ‘priest’ are not certain; the most plausible explanation is that the local priest was regarded as the representative person of the parish. The phonetic change from -er- to -ar- was a regular development in Middle English.
(Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press)
www.ancestry.com
PARSONS:
1. English: occupational name for the servant of a parish priest or parson, or a patronymic denoting the child of a parson, from the possessive case of Middle English persone, parsoun (see Parson).
2. English: many early examples are found with prepositions (e.g. Ralph del Persones 1323); these are habitational names, with the omission of house, hence in effect occupational names for servants employed at the parson’s house.
PARSON:
English: from Middle English persone, parsoun ‘parish priest’, ‘parson’ (Old French persone, from Latin persona ‘person’, ‘character’), hence a status name for a parish priest or perhaps a nickname for a devout man. The reasons for the semantic shift from ‘person’ to ‘priest’ are not certain; the most plausible explanation is that the local priest was regarded as the representative person of the parish. The phonetic change from -er- to -ar- was a regular development in Middle English.
(Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press)
www.ancestry.com
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