Where the Perkins name comes from

Perkins began as a patronymic built on Perkin, a medieval diminutive of Peter. Its roots run back to the French Pierre, a name the Norman Conquest brought into England. Over time the phrase Pierre kin ran together as Pierrekin and wore down into Perkins. The surname is found throughout the middle and south of England.

A second origin gives it a Welsh root in perthyn, meaning a relative or someone belonging to a particular family. Perkins is also thought to be an English form of Peredur, a name from medieval Welsh.