Volume 11 , Issue 38

Origin of Paris Family Name

Paris is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname that came from the Saxon tribe called Parisii who originally lived beside the Humber river in Lincolnshire.

The Paris surname has been recorded under many different variations, including Paris, Parish, Parris, Parrish, Pares and others. First found in Lincolnshire where they were seated from early times and their first records appeared on the census rolls taken by the ancient Kings of Britain to determine the rate of taxation of their subjects.

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States.

Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Paris or a variant listed above: Thomas Parris, who settled in Virginia in 1623; Edward and Eleanor Parish, who settled in Virginia in 1635; Thomas Parris, who came to Massachusetts in 1635.

Origin of the Name Parisii

The name Paris derives from that of its inhabitants, the Gaulish tribe known as the Parisii which comes from the Celtic Gallic word parisio meaning "the working people" or "the craftsmen." Names similar to Paris are: Pariss, Parrish, Baris. The original bearer of the name Paris, which is a local surname, once lived, held land, or was born in the beautiful region of Lorraine. In France, hereditary surnames were adopted according to fairly general rules and during the late Middle Ages, names that were derived from localities became increasingly widespread. Local names originally denoted the proprietorship of the village or estate.

The Paris family originally lived at the town of Paresse or Parez, in the Lorraine. Although one would at first assume that the name is derived from the city of Paris, evidence suggests that the names of both the town in the Lorraine and the French capital are derived from a Gaulish tribe called the Parisii.

First found in Lorraine where this distinguished family were seated at Paresse or Parez in that province, and were important members of the aristocracy. The main stem of the family became the Barons of Dagonville, Comtes de Sanpigny, and the Marquis de Bruney in 1730.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Edward Paris who settled in the Barbados in 1679 with his wife Elisabeth; Isaac Paris arrived in Philadelphia in 1751 with his wife Rachel, and sons Pierre, Isaac, Jean-Martin and Daniel.

Possible Sources of Paris

It was recorded as Paris, Parrish, and Parish, there were at least three possible sources for this early medieval surname. * First ? is that it is locational, and as such describes either somebody from the French capital of Paris, itself a derivation from the Gaulish tribe of the "Parisii." It maybe English from one of the villages called Paris.

* Second ? possible origin is that it may derive from the rare medieval given name Paris, which could be associated with the Trojan prince of the same name. This is ancient enough, but it has been traced to an original Ulyrian personal name "Voltuparis" meaning "hawk."

* Third ? it may derive from the pre medieval word "parysche", the modern parish, and describe a religious division. Early examples of recordings include: Willemus de Parysch in the Poll Tax rolls for Yorkshire in the year 1379, and the christening of Winnifride Parrish on October 1st 1602, at the Holy Trinity in the Minories.

In the earliest registers of the New England colonies, Thomas Parrish was recorded as living in "Elizabeth Cittie, Virginiea", on February 16th 1623. Perhaps the earliest recording of the surname is that of Lotyn de Paris of the county of Lincolnshire. He appears in the Hundred Rolls for the year 1273. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation.

In England this was usually known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

European Origin of the Paris Name

According to family histories in general the name of Parish evolved from two main distinct origins. In other words, there are at least two families branches, unrelated, namely:

Of French extraction or from Paris - evolved from "de Paris", (of Paris) from the city of Paris, as a Norman French name, originally "de Paris" which translates from French into English as "of Paris", and eventually became Parish, Parys, etc. One Englishman, Matthew Paris, the English chronicler of the early part of the thirteenth century, acquired his name from his study at the University of Paris. Paris sometimes added an h to his name to make it Parish or Parrish.

Of a locality or church parish - Parish or Parrish as a name taken from locality or even a church parish. A name local in origin, persons from this branch are not necessarily French in origin as the lines which derived from Paris above. Also in the 17th and 18th centuries, the surname was occasionally bestowed on foundlings brought up at the expense of the parish ... the young person who was an orphan of the church - in the days before welfare and state aid, an orphan with no surname may have picked up the last name of Parish as being "of the Parish."

A third, less common origin of the name comes from the rare medieval given name Paris, probably a form of Patrick, but associated with the name of the Trojan prince, Paris, which has been speculatively traced to an original Illyrian form Voltuparis or Assparis "Hawk."
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