Meaning and history
Percival was created by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his poem Perceval, the Story of the Grail. Chrétien may have derived the name from Old French perce val, meaning “pierce the valley,” or he may have based it loosely on the Welsh name Peredur. In the poem, Perceval is a boy from Wales who hopes to become a knight under King Arthur; after setting out to prove himself, he reaches the castle of the Fisher King and catches a glimpse of the Grail.
20062006: 6 births, rank #10,662
2007: 8 births, rank #8,915
2008: no US SSA record for this spelling
2009: 5 births, rank #12,491
2010: 6 births, rank #10,766
20112011: 13 births, rank #6,256
2012: 9 births, rank #8,158
2013: 8 births, rank #8,789
2014: 16 births, rank #5,485
2015: 16 births, rank #5,507
20162016: 12 births, rank #6,726
2017: 19 births, rank #4,935
2018: 19 births, rank #4,918
2019: 38 births, rank #3,103
2020: 46 births, rank #2,689
20212021: 46 births, rank #2,732
2022: 51 births, rank #2,616
2023: 63 births, rank #2,244
2024: 93 births, rank #1,767
20252025: 113 births, rank #1,529
Percival rose from #925 to #914 for boys between 1901 and 1902. Its highest annual birth count came in 1892, with 9 births.