Etymology

From Old French Perceval, name of a knight in a twelfth century Arthurian romance by the French poet Chrétien de Troyes. Shaped like Old French perce ‎(“pierce”) + val ‎(“valley”), but probably representing some Gaulish or Old Welsh name, possibly related to Welsh Peredur, from ber ‎(“spear, lance”), from Proto-Celtic *beru ‎(“spit”) + dur ‎(“hard metal, steel”). Cognate with German Parsifal.