Percival

/P-ER-R-S-IH-V-AH-L/

Boy Christian Old French origin European

Pierce the valley — one of King Arthur's knights who sought the Holy Grail, embodying the quest for spiritual perfection.

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Quick — what every parent wants to know about Percival:

🎨 What would baby Percival look like? 🔢 What's its numerology? 🔊 Does it go with your names? 👶 Is Percival right for your baby?

Yes — Percival is a Christian boy name of Old French origin, meaning “Pierce the valley — one of King Arthur's knights who sought the Holy Grail, embodying the quest for spiritual perfection.”.

The one thing this page can't tell you

How well does Percival fit your family?

This page tells you what Percival means. The app tells you whether it's right for your baby — scored against the names already in your family, your heritage, and your baby's exact birth star.

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NameRoot scoring a name across six signals — phonetics, numerology, birth star, culture, meaning and uniqueness

Six signals — scored for your family, not in the abstract:

🌟
Birth starAuspicious for your baby?
🔢
NumerologyDestiny 5, matched to you
🔊
PhoneticsGoes with your names?
💗
MeaningThe Courage cluster
🛕
HeritageChristian + family-tree fit
✨
UniquenessFamiliar vs rare

Meaning & origin

Percival is a boy's name of Old French origin, traditionally used in Christian families. The name means "Pierce the valley — one of King Arthur's knights who sought the Holy Grail, embodying the quest for spiritual perfection." and belongs to the Courage cluster — names for children who will grow into bold, fearless hearts.

Common among European families, Percival carries cultural weight that goes beyond its dictionary definition — it's a name with a story and a community.

What would a baby named Percival look like?

NameRoot imagines a one-of-a-kind AI baby portrait for every name, shaped by its heritage — the features, the colouring, the feeling a name like Percival carries. No two are alike.

An AI-generated baby portrait in the NameRoot app, shaped by the name's heritage

See Percival's portrait — and its full score — the moment you open the app.

See Percival's baby portrait →

What does Percival's numerology say?

Numerology assigns each name a single-digit destiny number by summing its letter values. Different schools use different mappings — NameRoot computes both so you can see how Percival resonates in either tradition.

Pythagorean
5
freedom and adventurous change
Chaldean
2
harmony and partnership

Percival's destiny number is 5 — but a number only matters in context. The app matches it to your family's own numbers for a real compatibility read. See Percival's full reading →

Does Percival go with your family's names?

Percival breaks into 8 sounds: /P-ER-R-S-IH-V-AH-L/. The real test isn't how it sounds alone — it's how it sounds beside the names already in your family: yours, your partner's, and any brothers or sisters. NameRoot scores that harmony, so Percival sits naturally next to a Mum and Dad like Michael & Anna, or a big sister named Gianna — no awkward clashes, no two names that blur together. Hear Percival beside your family's names →

Nicknames

Common affectionate forms of Percival — useful for everyday family conversation, early childhood, or as standalone given names themselves.

PeriPerc

Names similar to Percival

If Percival resonates with you, these names live in the same world — drawn from the same tradition, sharing the same meaning, or echoing a similar sound.

From the same tradition

Other Christian boy names, common in European families

Liam
Irish diminutive of William (Uilliam), from Germanic 'wil' (will) + 'helm' (helmet). Global phenomenon.
Noah
Rest, comfort, repose, from Hebrew Noach, linked to the root meaning to rest or bring relief. Borne in scripture by the builder of the ark who outlasted the flood, it has stayed in continuous Western use and now sits among the most-given boys' names worldwide.
Oliver
From Latin olivarius (olive tree cultivator) or from the Frankish Olivier.
George
Farmer, earth worker — the patron saint of England, the name of six kings, and Prince George of Cambridge. England's defining name.

Sharing the same meaning

Other Christian boy names from the Courage cluster

James
Supplanter, the one who grasps the heel and takes the lead — James is the English form of Jacob, the patriarch who wrestled with an angel and would not let go until he received a blessing. Two apostles bore this name, and kings of England and Scotland carried it across centuries. It speaks of tenacity, the refusal to surrender an advantage once gained, and the quiet persistence of faith that holds on even when the struggle seems endless
Ben
Son, son of the right hand — short for Benjamin. Germany's most-loved short boy name: direct, strong, and universally friendly.
Leo
Lion, the king of beasts whose roar commands silence across the savanna — Leo is the Latin word for lion and the name of thirteen popes, one of the great constellations, and the zodiac sign of midsummer. It carries the regal confidence of an animal that fears nothing, the warmth of a golden mane in the August sun, and the compact majesty of a three-letter name that contains an entire kingdom

Names that sound similar

Christian boy names that open with the same syllables as Percival

Percy
From Percy in Normandy — Percy is a Norman-French place name meaning the estate of Persius, carried to Britain after the Conquest and borne by the powerful Percy family of Northumberland. It gained literary distinction through the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, author of Ozymandias, and now carries a soft, vintage flavour as a given name.
Peter
Rock, stone — from Greek Petros, the name Jesus gave to Simon, the apostle on whom the Church was built. A byword for steadfast foundation across two millennia.
Paul
Small or humble, from the Latin cognomen Paulus, used in the Aemilia gens of Rome and meaning little in stature or the younger/lesser of two. The name entered the Christian tradition through the Apostle Paul, born Saul of Tarsus, who adopted his Latin name in his Gentile mission, and it spread across Europe in his wake to become one of the most enduring names in the Western canon.

Explore more names

Keep exploring names like Percival — by tradition, by meaning, or by first letter.

Christian boy namesNames that mean courageNames starting with P All baby names

Common questions about Percival

What does the name Percival mean?

Percival means "Pierce the valley — one of King Arthur's knights who sought the Holy Grail, embodying the quest for spiritual perfection.." It is a boy name of Old French origin, traditionally used in Christian families.

Is Percival a boy or girl name?

Percival is most commonly used as a boy name.

What is the origin of the name Percival?

Percival is of Old French origin, used in Christian tradition, commonly among European families.

Is Percival a Christian name?

Yes. Percival is a boy name traditionally used in Christian families, of Old French origin.

What does Percival mean in Old French?

Percival originates from Old French, where it means "Pierce the valley — one of King Arthur's knights who sought the Holy Grail, embodying the quest for spiritual perfection.."

What are common nicknames for Percival?

Common short forms of Percival include Peri, Perc.

What is the numerology of Percival?

Percival has a Pythagorean destiny number of 5 — freedom and adventurous change.

See how Percival scores for your family

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