This long-established surname recorded in the spellings of Parren, Pearn, Pearne, Pern, Perrin, Perring, Perren, Perron, Perone, and no doubt other spellings as well, is of Old French pre 10th century origin. It derives from the male given name "Pierre", the ultimate origin of which is the Greek "Petros", meaning "The rock". This name was extremely popular throughout Christian Europe in the Middle Ages, largely due to St. Peter, regarded as the founding father of the Christian Church in view of Christ's pronouncement, "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church". "Petrus", the Latinized form of the name, appears (without surname) in the Domesday Book of 1086, and one Perrinus Vadletus was noted in the 1207 Rolls of Northamptonshire. Early examples of the surname include: Geoffrey Perrun of Lincolnshire in rolls of the Knights Templar (Crusaders) in 1185, Henry Piron in Oxfordshire in 1194, John Pirun of Wiltshire in 1255 and John Perin of Cambridge in the Hundred Rolls of the year 1273. Later examples taken from early church registers include Katerine, daughter of John Perrin, who was christened at Budge Row, London, in 1544, Will Pern, christened at St Botolphs Bishopgate, on May 1st 1571, Charles Pearne, who married May Winfield at St James church, Dukes Street, London, on February 16th 1679, and Samuel Pearn, a witness at St Leonards church, Shoreditch, on May 31st 1752. Some bearers of the name are of French Huguenot extraction, an example being Marin Perin, christened at the Threadneedle Street French Huguenot Church, on May 10th 1639. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Pirun, which was dated 1166, in the "Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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