Percival is a distinctive choice, ranked #735 in 2025. Your child is likely to be the only Percival in their class.
💎
UK Rank 2025
#735
Ad
About the Name Percival
2024 marks Percival's peak year in UK records so far, sitting at UK #814. The name has climbed 271 places in the last five years — a significant surge by any measure. The name has been a regular feature in UK records since 1997.
Percival is uncommon in the UK, so your child is very likely to be the only Percival in their class.
⭐ Famous People Named Percival
Percival Spear — Thomas George Percival Spear was a British historian of modern South Asia, in particular of its colonial period.
Percival Norton Johnson — Percival Norton Johnson was the founder of Johnson Matthey, the United Kingdom's largest precious metals business.
Percival Lowell — Percival Lowell was an American businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, and furthered theories of a ninth planet within the Solar System.
Biographical summaries are shortened from Wikipedia and are used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence; those summaries remain available under that same licence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about the name Percival
Unlikely. With around 47 UK babies named Percival per year, your child will almost certainly be the only Percival in their class, and possibly the only one in the whole school.
Percival is at its highest recorded position — #735 in 2025, with 47 births. In 2020 it ranked #1,085.
Percival is a distinctive choice sitting outside the mainstream UK top names. Parents choosing less common names often find their children appreciate the individuality as they grow up, rarely needing to add an initial to distinguish themselves.
Notable people named Percival include: Percival David and Percival Kirby. Short summaries for each appear below.
Percival does not appear in the US top 1,000 baby names, making it a distinctively British choice — your child is unlikely to encounter American Percivals in the wild.
47
UK babies named Percival (2025)
< 1
Expected classmates with this name (class of 28)
~0.0
In a school of 600
↑ 350 places
Rank change (last 5 years)
🏫 Who else is in the room?
In a typical UK class of 28, highlighted children share the name Percival
Almost certainly the only Percival in the class
Ad
UK Popularity (1997–2025)
Rank and birth count · ONS official data
No US data available for this name
✨ Similar names to Percival
Names with a similar style — each with their own classroom story
Percival Lowell was an American businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, and furthered theories of a ninth planet within the Solar System.
Sir Percival Victor David Ezekiel David, 2nd Baronet was a Bombay-born British financier who is best known as a scholar and collector of Chinese ceramics.