The Family Facts archive, with its rich historical information, can tell you everything from the lifespan of your ancestors to the very meaning of your last name. Every time you find a fact, we'll tell you what it means.
parish Origin and Immigration
Top Places of Origin for parish
You can find out where the majority of parish families were living before they immigrated to the U.S. You can learn where to focus your search for foreign records.
Ports of Departure for parish
You can pinpoint where the majority of parish families booked passage to the US. You can find out where to start searching for parish records.
parish Immigration to the US by Year
You can find out when most of the parish families immigrated to the United States. You can focus your search to immigration records dating from that era.
Name History and Origin for parish Naming patterns can help you learn more about your family’s cultural and ethnic background. You might find alternate name spellings which are helpful when searching for family records.
parish Surname Distribution
Helpful, as you can decide where to start searching for parish records. You can also find out where the majority of parish families were living during the 19th century.
Origin: According to family histories in general the name of Parish evolved from two main distinct origins. In other words, there are at least two families branches, unrelated, namely: Of French extraction or from Paris - evolved from ?de Paris?, (of Paris) from the city of Paris, as a Norman French name, originally ?de Paris? which translates from French into English as ?of Paris?, and eventually became Parish, Parys, etc. One Englishman, Matthew Paris, the English chronicler of the early part of the thirteenth century, acquired his name from his study at he University of Paris. Paris sometimes added an h to his name to make it Parish or Parrish. Of a locality or church parish - Parish or Parrish as a name taken from locality or even a church parish. A name local in origin, persons from this branch are not necessarily French in origin as the lines which derived from Paris above. Also in the 17th and 18th centuries, the surname was occasionally bestowed on foundlings brought up at the expense of the parish...... the young person who was an orphan of the church - in the days before welfare and state aid, an orphan with no surname may have picked up the last name of Parish as being ?of the Parish?
A third, less common origin of the name comes from the rare medieval given name Paris, probably an OF form of Patrick, but associated with the name of the Trojan prince, Paris, which has been speculatively traced to an original Illyrian form Voltuparis or Assparis ?Hawk
Surnames: Parish, Parrish
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Origin of parish, Meaning of parish
Origin: The Parisii were a Celtic clan that lived in a place called Paris (now Paris, France). The Roman Empire was out conquering everything everywhere.They went to battle with the Parisii, but the Romans were too great in number and won. The Parisii that could, fled to an isolated strip in what is now England and from there went to what is now Ireland.
Since Parisii was an odd name and since it was a custom of the time for a last name to be simply "of [placename]" , and since some wanted to blend in , etc, the name Parisii began to change. Some kept Parisii; some changed it and it became "Paris" or "de Paris" (of Paris); As they moved into Ireland, the "h" was added; variations became O'Paris, O'Parish, and Parish. Then "The Church" came along and used "Parish" to denote areas, so the second "r" was added by some so as not to be associated with the Church.
The name changes happened over many generations and was prompted by a variety of reasons (including: a desire to fit in or not stand out as different; to gain favor with or avoid conflict with "the powers that be"; or just because people were not educated and it just happened - as in census takers and tax roll compilers here change spellings).
Surnames: Parish, Parrish
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