Show ContentsPerrin History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The prominent surname Perrin originated in France, a country which has been a dominant presence in world affairs for centuries.The earliest forms of hereditary surnames in France were the patronymic surnames, which are derived from the father's given name, and metronymic surnames, which are derived from the mother's given name.The patronyms were derived from a variety of given names that were of many different origins. As well as the names of the saints of the Christian Church, many of the most common French surnames are derived from personal names of Germanic origin.They derive from the language of the Visigoths, who controlled France between the mid-5th and early 8th centuries. The name Perrin is derived, from the French name Pierre, meaning rock.

Early Origins of the Perrin family

The surname Perrin was first found in Lorraine where this eminent family held a family seat in the seigneurie of Jalaucort, and where they were elevated to the nobility in 1514.

Early History of the Perrin family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Perrin research. Another 116 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1642, 1665, 1719, 1789 and 1807 are included under the topic Early Perrin History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Perrin Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Perrin, Perin, Perrine, Perine, Perrion, De Perrin and many more.

Early Notables of the Perrin family

Notable in the family name was

  • Daniel Perrin (1642-1719), one of the first permanent European inhabitants of Staten Island, New York, he arrived from the Isle of Jersey on July 29, 1665 aboard the ship Philip

Perrin Ranking

In the United States, the name Perrin is the 4,004th most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Perrin is ranked the 41st most popular surname with an estimated 44,900 people with that name. 2


United States Perrin migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Perrin Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Richard Perrin, who settled in Virginia in 1637
  • Arthur and Richard Perrin, who settled in Virginia in 1637
  • Arthur Perrin, who arrived in Virginia in 1638 3
  • John Perrin, who landed in Virginia in 1642 3
  • Fortune Perrin, who landed in Virginia in 1658 3
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Perrin Settlers in United States in the 18th Century
  • Claude Perrin, aged 25, who landed in Louisiana in 1720 3
Perrin Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • William Perrin, who arrived in America in 1806 3
  • Mathew Perrin, aged 27, who landed in New York in 1812 3
  • Elizabeth Perrin, who landed in New York in 1845 3
  • Jeremiah Perrin, who arrived in Allegany (Allegheny) County, Pennsylvania in 1847 3
  • Charles L Perrin, who arrived in Texas in 1850-1906 3
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Perrin Settlers in United States in the 20th Century
  • Ernest William Wall Perrin, who arrived in Arkansas in 1901 3

Canada Perrin migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Perrin Settlers in Canada in the 17th Century
  • Mr. Jean Perrin, French settler travelling to Canada for work arriving on 5th April 1645 4
  • Henry Perrin, who landed in Montreal in 1650
  • Jeanne Perrin, aged 18, who landed in Montreal in 1653
  • Miss Jeanne Perrin, French settler travelling to Canada for work arriving on 16th April 1658 4
  • Henri Perrin, son of François and Marguerite, who married Jeanne Merrin, daughter of Michel and Catherine, in Montreal, Quebec on 18th July 1661 5
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Perrin Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century
  • Joseph Perrin, son of Mathieu and Jeanne, who married Jeanne Durand, daughter of Pierre and Jeanne, in Champlain, Quebec on 30th June 1716 5
  • Antoine Perrin, son of Jacques and Catherine, who married Marie-Anne Chotard, daughter of Jean-Baptiste and Madeleine, in Montreal, Quebec on 25th June 1720 5
  • Antoine Perrin sailed from Languedoc in 1720 for Quebec
  • Joseph-Jilles Perrin, who arrived in Quebec in 1723 from Brittany
  • Joseph-Gilles Perrin, son of Jean and Pérette, who married Marie-Josephte Laroche, daughter of Innocent and Marie, in Repentigny, Quebec on 8th February 1723 5
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Perrin Settlers in Canada in the 19th Century
  • Barrington Perrin, who settled in St. John's, Newfoundland in 1806 6
  • James Perrin was a fisherman at Turnip Cove, Fortune Bay, Newfoundland in 1871 6

Australia Perrin migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Perrin Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Mr. Richard Perrin, English convict who was convicted in Chester, Cheshire, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Baring" in December 1818, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 7
  • Mr. Joseph Perrin, (b. 1809), aged 19, English labourer who was convicted in Kent, England for life for house breaking, transported aboard the "Countess of Harcourt" on 29th April 1828, arriving in New South Wales, Australia, he died in 1835 8
  • John Perrin, who arrived in Holdfast Bay, Australia aboard the ship "Katherine Stewart Forbes" in 1837 9
  • Eliza Perrin, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Navarino" in 1837 10
  • Miss Catherine Perrin, (b. 1821), aged 18, Cornish servant, from Lanreath, Cornwall, UK travelling aboard the ship "Amelia Thompson" arriving in New South Wales, Australia on 27th September 1839 11
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

New Zealand Perrin migration to New Zealand +

Emigration to New Zealand followed in the footsteps of the European explorers, such as Captain Cook (1769-70): first came sealers, whalers, missionaries, and traders. By 1838, the British New Zealand Company had begun buying land from the Maori tribes, and selling it to settlers, and, after the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, many British families set out on the arduous six month journey from Britain to Aotearoa to start a new life. Early immigrants include:

Perrin Settlers in New Zealand in the 19th Century
  • Rhonda Perrin, aged 26, a servant, who arrived in Wellington, New Zealand aboard the ship "London" in 1840
  • Edmund Perrin, aged 28, a brickmaker, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Martha Ridgway" in 1842
  • Mary Perrin, aged 26, who arrived in Nelson, New Zealand aboard the ship "Martha Ridgway" in 1842
  • Mrs. Elizabeth Perrin, (b. 1827), aged 33, British settler travelling from London aboard the ship "Gananoque" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 9th May 1860 12
  • Mr. John Perrin, (b. 1829), aged 31, British domestic servant travelling from London aboard the ship "Gananoque" arriving in Lyttelton, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand on 9th May 1860 12
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

West Indies Perrin migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 13
Perrin Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century
  • Thomas Perrin, who settled in Barbados in 1663

Contemporary Notables of the name Perrin (post 1700) +

  • Stephen Herbert "Steve" Perrin (1946-2021), American game designer and technical writer/editor, best known for creating the tabletop role-playing game RuneQuest for Chaosium
  • Jesse Bennett Perrin (1959-2017), professional American football safety for the St. Louis Cardinals (1982–1985)
  • Brigadier-General Herbert Towle Perrin (1893-1962), American Assistant Commanding General 106th Division (1943-1946) 14
  • Brigadier-General Edwin Sanders Perrin (1905-1946), American Deputy Chief of Staff, Headquarters US Army Air Forces (1943-1944) 15
  • Harold Ernest Perrin CBE (1878-1948), British aviation pioneer
  • Nat Perrin (1905-1998), American comedy writer who contributed to several Marx Brothers films
  • Jacques Perrin (1941-2022), born Jacques André Simonet, a French two-time Academy Award nominated, two-time César Award winning actor and filmmaker
  • Claude Victor- Perrin, Duke of Belluno, French Marshall of the Empire during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 16
  • Joseph Perrin, French Brigadier General during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars from 1789 to 1815 17
  • Francis Perrin (1901-1992), French physicist, high-commissioner for atomic energy, from 1951 to 1970
  • ... (Another 5 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Halifax Explosion
  • Miss Helen Bertha  Perrin (1906-1917), Canadian resident from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada who died in the Halifax Explosion (1917) 18
HMS Hood
  • Mr. Alfred J Perrin (b. 1913), English Cook (S) serving for the Royal Navy from Hawkswood, Hailsham, Sussex, England, who sailed into battle and died in the HMS Hood sinking 19
RMS Titanic
  • Mr. William Charles Perrin (d. 1912), aged 39, English Boots Steward from Southampton, Hampshire who worked aboard the RMS Titanic and died in the sinking 20


Suggested Readings for the name Perrin +

  • The John Perrin Family of Rehoboth, Massachusetts by Stanley Ernest Perin.

  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
  3. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  4. Debien, Gabriel. Liste Des Engagés Pour Le Canada Au XVIIe Siècle. Vol. 6, Laval University, 1952. (Retreived 24th May 2018). Retrieved from https://lebloguedeguyperron.wordpress.com/2016/06/30/130-liste-des-contrats-dengagement-pour-la-nouvelle-france-releves-a-la-rochelle-entre-1634-et-1679/
  5. Internoscia, Arthur E., and Claire Chevrier. Dictionnaire National des Canadiens Français 1608-1760. Vol. 2, Institut Drouin, 1958.
  6. Seary E.R., Family Names of the Island of Newfoundland, Montreal: McGill's-Queen's Universtity Press 1998 ISBN 0-7735-1782-0
  7. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 16th September 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/baring
  8. Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 19th April 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/countess-of-harcourt
  9. State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) KATHERINE STEWART FORBES 1837 arrived Holdfast Bay, near Adelaide, on October 17, 1837. . Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1837KatherineStewartForbes.htm
  10. State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) NAVARINO 1837. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1837Navarino.htm
  11. Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 3rd May 2018). Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/emigration_bounty_nsw.pdf
  12. New Zealand Yesteryears Passenger Lists 1800 to 1900 (Retrieved 17th October 2018). Retrieved from http://www.yesteryears.co.nz/shipping/passlist.html
  13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
  14. Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2014, March 26) Herbert Perrin. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Perrin/Herbert_Towle/USA.html
  15. Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2014, March 26) Edwin Perrin. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Perrin/Edwin_Sanders/USA.html
  16. Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, August 12) Claude Perrin. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
  17. Generals Who Served in the French Army during the Period 1789-1815. (Retrieved 2015, August 12) Joseph Perrin. Retrieved from http://www.napoleon-series.org/research/c_frenchgenerals.html
  18. Halifax Explosion Book of Remembrance | Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. (Retrieved 2014, June 23) . Retrieved from https://maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca/what-see-do/halifax-explosion/halifax-explosion-book-remembrance
  19. H.M.S. Hood Association-Battle Cruiser Hood: Crew Information - H.M.S. Hood Rolls of Honour, Men Lost in the Sinking of H.M.S. Hood, 24th May 1941. (Retrieved 2016, July 15) . Retrieved from http://www.hmshood.com/crew/memorial/roh_24may41.htm
  20. Titanic Passenger List - Titanic Facts. (Retrieved 2016, July 13) . Retrieved from http://www.titanicfacts.net/titanic-passenger-list.html


Houseofnames.com on Facebook