Peres
A surname usually derived from Peter/Peers, ultimately meaning “son of Peter.”
The #6,420 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 58,320 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Peres is a medieval surname form tied to the personal name Peter, through the related medieval forms Piers, Pears, and Peers. In this line of names, the ultimate source is Latin Petrus, “Peter,” but the surname shape was often filtered through Old French and Middle English spelling. In practice, Peres is best understood as a patronymic: “son of Peter” or “belonging to Peter.”
History
The historical excerpts show Peres in England from the 13th and 14th centuries, especially in records from Somerset and Yorkshire. It appears alongside closely related spellings such as Piers, Pears, and Peers, which suggests a family of interchangeable medieval forms rather than a single fixed spelling. Later parish and record-keeper spellings continued to vary, which is typical of surnames derived from common given names.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Medieval scribes often treated Peres, Piers, Pears, and Peers as near-equivalents, so one family could appear under several spellings in different records.
From the historical record
“son of Peter ' ; v. Pearson and Piers. Robert Peres, co. Soms., 1 Edw. Ill : Kirby's Quest, p. 250. Ralph Peyres, co. Soms., 1 Edw. Ill : ibid, p 2«.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (alternate scan)Notable people named Peres
- Shimon Peres (1923–2016)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.