Pérez (Spanish), Peretz (Hebrew)
PronunciationSpanish: [ˈpeɾeθ]
Latin American Spanish: [ˈpeɾes]
Hebrew: [ˈpeʁets]
Language(s)Spanish, Hebrew
Origin
MeaningSpanish: "Son of Pero or Pedro (Peter)"
Hebrew: "a burst / a rush"
Region of originSpain (former for Sephardi Jews)
Portugal (former for Sephardi Jews)
Israel (current for Sephardi Jews)
Other names
Variant form(s)Spanish surnames: Pérez, Perez, Peres, Peris, Pesidas, Pharez, Pretz, Pires, Pritz, Peters, Fares, Farez, Fretz;
Sephardi Jewish surnames: Peretz, Perets;
Usagemainly for surnames (family names)

Pérez or Perez, as most commonly written in English, is a Castilian Spanish surname. Peretz or Perets (Hebrew: פֶּרֶץ; pronounced [ˈpeʁets]) is also common among people of Sephardi Jewish descent, and is the 4th most common surname in Israel, most common surname not of Hebrew language origin, and most common surname exclusive to a single Jewish ethnoreligious subgroup.[1]

Origins

The surname with Spanish origins, written in Spanish orthography as Pérez, is a patronymic surname meaning "son of Pero or Pedro (Peter)". The surname has a Portuguese counterpart with the same meaning and etymology, Peres, written with a final "s" instead of "z" and without the accent.

The surname with a Hebrew origin is transliterated into English as either Perez or Peretz, and is derived from the Hebrew given name פרץ (Genesis 38:29), after the biblical character Perez (son of Judah), which in Hebrew means "to breach" or "to burst forth". That biblical character's Hebrew name, however, is transliterated as Farés in the Spanish Christian Bible.

Neither the Spanish nor the Hebrew surname corresponds to one single lineage. Instead, both correspond to many unrelated lineages.

Additionally, while the Spanish and Hebrew etymological origins are distinct, there are nevertheless those who carry the surname because, in their particular case, the origin of their surname is Spanish Jewish (i.e. Sephardic), and they, as Spanish Jews or their descendants, adopted the surname precisely because of its ambiguity.

Pérez as a surname among Spanish Jews or their descendants could be considered by their non-Jewish Spanish or Hispanic neighbors a typical Christian surname, yet still pay homage to their Jewish roots. This was helpful during the times of the Spanish Inquisition and its persecution of the Jews (and their baptized New Christian descendants) in Spain and its colonies in Hispanic America.

Among Spaniards and Hispanics, the surname by itself does not necessarily indicate a Jewish heritage. Likewise, among Jews, the surname does not by itself necessarily indicate a Sephardic heritage.

Pronunciation

In Castilian Spanish, the name is pronounced [ˈpeɾeθ] and in Hispanic America, [ˈpeɾes]. The accent or stress is placed on the second-to-last syllable. In British English, on the contrary, it is usually pronounced with stress on the last syllable.

In Modern Hebrew the name is written פרץ and pronounced [ˈpeʁets].

List of persons with the surname

Fictional characters with the surname

See also

References

  1. ↑ "למ"ס: אלה שמות המשפחה הנפוצים בישראל". ynet (in Hebrew). 4 February 2019.
  2. ↑ Peter Siljedahl (2012). "Sune och tjejhatarligan". Boktips. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  3. ↑ Peter Siljedahl (1985). "Sune börjar tvåan". Boktips. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
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