Is Perkins a Jewish name

Answer 1

In short: Yes, the name Perkins can be a Jewish name. The long form can be found below.

Simon and Peter must be considered together, for they owe their numbers to the same great saint who, if his name were not thus divided in two would almost equal John. There was indeed another apostle called Simon, but so little is known of him that we can be certain it was veneration for Simon Peter that made the name rank so high.

In Middle English references to this Saint the name Simon (often written Symond) was generally preferred to Peter, as in Wycliffe's Bible, and the numbers of Sim(p)son, Simmons and other variants given an idea of its immense popularity. Probably one reason for the early preference for this form was that it coincided with the pre-Conquest name Sigmund which was Scandinavian as well as English and well known to the Normans. It appears in Domesday Book, and would inevitable be con tracted to Simon, so that it must have seemed to eleventh-century Englishmen that the great Apostle who held the keys of Heaven had a very homely and familiar name. It is impossible now to sort out one origin from the other, but judging by other names of the two types we may say that much the larger contribution comes from the Saint.

But the name Peter was popular too, though not in the way we now say it. Our surnames reveal what may surprise many, that it came into England with a French pronunciation something like Pierre, at any rate in a single syllable without any 't'. It is true that there is quite a large contingent of Peters, showing that this modern pronunciation, influenced by the Latin from Petrus, came into fashion just in time for latecomers, including the Welsh, but by far the largest mass of surnames from this name are those with the sound of Pears, generally written Pearce or Pearson, with Perkin as the favourite pet-form. It must have been noticed how readily 'er' and 'ar' were interchangeable (as in Clerk and Clarke, Derby and Darby), and Parkin is just another form of Perkin, as Parkes is of Perks. However when we come to Parke we are on doubtful ground as some Parkers must have lived in the Park, which is an entirely different matter. This small uncertainty makes little difference to the large score of Peter.

2. Homes of Family Names In Great Britain, by Guppy, REF CS 2505 G85, 1968 page, 51

PERKINS-PERKIN-PERKS-Confined mostly to the southern half of England, being most numerous in Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and South Wales.

3. Dictionary of American Family Names, by Hawks FHC CS 2485 .D53 2003 V.3 page 75

PERKES (157) 1. English (West Midlands): variant spelling of PERKS. 2. Jewish (from Ukraine): metronymic from the Yiddish name Perke (a pet form of the female personal name Perl 'pearl'; see PEREL 3) + the Yiddish possessive suffix -s.

4. Jewish Family Names and Their Origins, An Etymological Dictionary, by Heinrich W. and Eva Guggenheimer, REF CS 3010 .G84 1992, page 583

Perk, variant of Berl, Dim. Perkal, Perkel, Perkell, Perkul; part. Perkoff, Perkovski.

Answer 2

Yes. Any name can be.