The story
- Proto-Celtic · derived from*beru“spit”
- Proto-Brythonic · derived from*ber
- Middle Welsh · derived fromber
- Welsh · derived fromPeredur
- Old French · derived fromPerceval
- English todayPercival
From Old French Perceval, name of a knight in a twelfth century Arthurian romance by the French poet Chrétien de Troyes. Shaped like Old French percier (“pierce”) + val (“valley”), but probably representing some Gaulish or Old Welsh name, possibly related to Welsh Peredur, from ber (“spear, lance”) (from Middle Welsh ber, from Proto-Brythonic *ber, from Proto-Celtic *beru (“spit”)) + dur (“hard metal, steel”) (see Latin durus). Cognate with German Parzival and Parsifal.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.