Perciballi
This form is a variant of the surname Percivalle.
Origin and meaning
E. De Felice indicates that the surname has as its base the medieval name Percivalle, the Italianization of the hero of the Breton cycle Perceval (in French Perseval, in German Parzival, also Italianized as Pàrsifal), the knight of the Round Table who seeks the Holy Grail. He notes that the name spread in Italy mainly in the 13th century, above all in the North-East and sporadically in other areas.
A. Bongioanni indicates that the surname has as its base the medieval name Percivalle, the Italianization of the hero of the Breton cycle Perceval (in French Perseval, in German Parzival, also Italianized as Pàrsifal), the knight of the Round Table who seeks the Holy Grail. He adds that the name became popular in France, Italy, England and Germany, where in the 13th century it was reworked by Wolfram von Eschenbach as Parzival.
Variants
- Perciavalle
- Perciavalli
- Perciballi
- Percipalli
- Percivale
- Percivalli
- Princigalli
- Principalli
- Princivalle
- Princivalli
- Prinzivalle
- Prinzivalli
Altered forms and derivatives
Geographic distribution: The North-East with scant frequency; other areas sporadic; folk-etymological alterations in the South
📍 You can view how this surname is distributed in Italy: View distribution in Italy (Cognomix)
Sources
This entry of the Italian Surname Meanings dictionary is based on the following specialized onomastic sources:
- Bongioanni, A. (1940). Nomi e Cognomi. Saggio di ricerche etimologiche e storiche. Milano: Fratelli Bocca.
- De Felice, E. (1978). Dizionario dei cognomi italiani. Milano: Mondadori.