Pires History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland
England

Early Origins of the Pires family

The surname Pires was first found in Aberdeenshire and Banff, where it is "a common surname. Many generations of Piries have lived at Iriewells in the parish of Udny, and there was an old family of Pyrrie in Paisley dating from the end of the fifteenth century. John Pirre was burgess of Glasgow in 1550, Adam Peine, tailzeour in Inverness, 1625, James Pirie appears in Bogmyln in 1633. William Pirrhie was retoured heir of David Pirrhie in Nuik, 1602." 1

Further to the south in England, the name literally means "dweller by a Pear-Tree" from the Middle English "pirie, pyrie," Old English "pirige, purige." 2 Another source claims the name means "a pear-orchard. The forms in Hundredorum Rolls are De la Pirie, and Ate Pyrie. Pirrie, in Lowland Scotland, means trim; nice in dress; precise in manner; also, having a tripping manner in walking; walking with a spring. " 3

Early English rolls provide us a glimpse of the spelling variations used through Medieval times. Today we typically need to look beyond the spellings of these entries and concentrate on a phonetic appreciation of the names. The Pipe Rolls of 1176 included an entry for Henry de Peri, de Piri in Staffordshire. The same person was listed in the Assize Rolls for Staffordshire in 1199. Richard Pirie was found in the Pipe Rolls for Kent in 1198 and later, William de la Purie was listed in Somerset in 1243 according to the Assize Rolls of that time. Later again, Gilbert atte Pyrie was found in the Feet of Fines for Surrey in 1263 and Richard del Piry was listed in the Assize Rolls for Staffordshire in 1381. Finally, Richard atte Perye was listed in Sussex in 1392. 4

Delving further into the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273, we found: Geoffrey de la Pirie, Cambridgeshire; Robert del Pirie, Oxfordshire; and William de la Pirie, Salop (Shropshire.) 5

Early History of the Pires family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pires research. Another 204 words (15 lines of text) covering the years 1550, 1589, 1601, 1664, 1674, 1686, 1695, 1737, 1760, 1763, 1768, 1798 and 1804 are included under the topic Early Pires History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pires Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Pirie, Pirry, Pire and others.

Early Notables of the Pires family

Notable amongst the Clan at this time was Alexander Pirie (1737-1804), the Scottish divine. "About 1760 he was appointed teacher in philosophy in the divinity school at Abernethy, and, in the course of his lectures, recommended for the study of his pupils parts of Lord Kames's 'Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion.' For this he was suspended and excommunicated by the synod in 1763, and an appointment which he had to preach in North America was withdrawn. Upon this, a...
Another 82 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Pires Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Pires Ranking

In the United States, the name Pires is the 6,952^nd most popular surname with an estimated 4,974 people with that name. 6 However, in France, the name Pires is ranked the 786^th most popular surname with an estimated 6,370 people with that name. 7

Migration of the Pires family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: John Pirry settled in Pennsylvania in 1773.

Contemporary Notables of the name Pires (post 1700) +

Gabriel Appelt Pires (b. 1993), simply known as Gabriel, a Brazilian professional footballer
Antônio Carlos Moreira Pires (1947-2020), better known as Moraes Moreira, a Brazilian musician and singer
José Maria Pires (1919-2017), Brazilian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, Bishop of Araçuaí (1957–1965) and Archbishop of Paraíba (1965–1995)

Citations +

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Harrison, Henry, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary Baltimore: Geneological Publishing Company, 2013. Print
Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/