Created by the 12th-century French poet Chrétien de Troyes for his poem 'Perceval, the Story of the Grail'. In the poem Perceval was one of King Arthur 's Knights of the Round Table who was given a glimpse of the Holy Grail. The character (and probably the name) of Perceval was based on that of the Welsh hero Peredur. The spelling was perhaps altered under the influence of Old French percer val "to pierce the valley". Percival is a very old English name, derived from the Old French words "percer", which means "to pierce", and "val", which means "valley". It is a very old name and the first record of the name is that of a knight who searched for the Holy Grail.
Percival Related Names Variant: Perceval (Arthurian Romance) Diminutive: Percy (English) Other Languages: Parsifal (German)
