More Park/e/s Surname Variants Found!

Recent DNA tests have resulted in the discovery (at least to us) of some new variants to our common surname.

One set of variants is: PERSHOUSE, PERSEHOUSE, PURSHOUSE, PARKESHOUSE and has connected genetically to a descendant of Lt. Richard Parks (b. ca. 1667 Mass.-d. 1725 Mass.). The Pershouse variants arose from a corruption of “Parkes’ house” and go back to the 1500s in England. More research is being done by one of our Parke Society members, and when he has a sufficient amount of material, an article will appear in an upcoming issue of the Parke Society Newsletter. Watch for it!

The other variant is PÁIRCÉIR, PÁRCAR and has connected genetically to a Parks family which came to New York state from Ireland around 1850. The matching Pairceir DNA participant lives in County Meath, Ireland. We have this explanation of the surname from Library Ireland online:

From Irish Names and Surnames 1923:

PÁIRCÉIR—XII—Parker; Norman ‘le Parkere,’ i.e., the parker, custodian of a park. Also Párcar.

Exciting to learn about these new variants—look for more detail in upcoming posts and newsletter articles!