The parson Surname
parson Name Meaning and History
- English: from Middle English persone, parsoun ‘parish priest’, ‘parson’ (Old French persone, from Latin persona ‘person’, ‘character’), hence a status name for a parish priest or perhaps a nickname for a devout man. The reasons for the semantic shift from ‘person’ to ‘priest’ are not certain; the most plausible explanation is that the local priest was regarded as the representative person of the parish. The phonetic change from -er- to -ar- was a regular development in Middle English.
- Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish names.
- Americanized spelling of Swedish Pärsson, Persson (see Persson).
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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