Etymology

percy

Per·cy
P3E1R1C3Y4

Today it means: A male person regarded as unmanly or weak; a sissy. Full definition →

Norman Percy ← Old French Perci ← Late Latin Persiacum
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percy · noun1

Clipping of Percocet + -y.

Percy · proper noun, noun2

  1. Etruscan · derived from𐌐𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖
  2. Latin · derived fromPersius“a Gallo-Roman nomen gentile”
  3. Late Latin · derived fromPersiacum
  4. Old French · derived fromPerci
  5. Norman · derived fromPercy“a baronial surname”
  6. English todayPercy

Proper noun senses 1 (surname) and 3 (place names) are derived from Norman Percy (“a baronial surname”), from Percy-en-Auge (“a place in Pays d’Auge, Normandy, France”, literally “Percy in Auge”), from Old French Perci, from Late Latin Persiacum, from Latin Persius (“a Gallo-Roman nomen gentile”), from Etruscan 𐌐𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (persu); further etymology uncertain, possibly from 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask”). Proper noun sense 2 (given name) is either from the above, or is a clipping of Perc(ival) + -y (suffix forming familiar names). The common noun is derived from the proper noun. Sense 2 (“penis”) is probably from the fact that Percy and penis begin with the same letter.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.