Paris Family Crest, Coat of Arms and Name History

Surname Name Meaning, Origin, and Etymology
This last name has several origin theories. First, it is of locational origin meaning “of Paris”, referring to people who came to Britain (or elsewhere) from the city of Paris, France during medieval times, or they had connections with the city. The name of the French city derived from a Gaulish tribe known as the Parisii, who were a Celtic Iron Age people who lived on the banks of the river Seine. Second, it may have derived from the medieval personal (first) name Paris, which in turn is a variant of the Old French given named Patrice (similar to Patrick), and was also associated with the Trojan prince in Homer’s Iliad. Most anciently, it can be traced to the Ulyrian personal name Voltuparis, meaning “hawk”. Third, it could be a Catalan reduced form of the personal name Aparici, which was a name given to children born on January 6^th (the Feast of the Epiphany). Fourth, it might derive from the ancient word parysche, the old word for parish, a religious division of a town or piece of land.

Spelling Variations
Common spelling variants or names with similar etymologies include Parriss, Parris, Pariss, Parish, Parez, Parys, and Paresse.

Popularity & Geographic Distribution
The last name ranks Paris ranks 1,970^th in popularity in terms in the United Status as of the 2000 Census.  The name ranks particularly high in the following four states: New Hampshire, Indiana, Delaware, and Wyoming. The surname is somewhat less common in England, where it ranks 2,892^nd. It ranks highest in the following counties:  Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire. The name is common throughout the English speaking world:  Scotland (1,825^th), Wales (3,094^th), Ireland (5,846^th), Canada (1,577^th), New Zealand (2,341^st), Australia (2,967^th), and South Africa (5,715^th).  Further, the name is the 67^th most common name in France.

Early Bearers of the Surname
The Hundred Rolls of 1273 AD, a census of Wales and England, known in Latin as Rotuli Hundredorum lists four bearers of this surname: Lotyn de Paris in county Lincolnshire, Robert de Paris in London, and Ralph de Paris in county Kent. The Placita de Quo Warranto lists two bearers of this name living during the reign of King Edward I of England: Roger de Paris  and Simon de Parys. A one John Parys was listed in county Somerset during in 1327 AD according to Kirby’s Quest. The Poll Tax of Yorkshire in 1379 AD lists two bearers of this last name: Johannes de Parys and Willemus de Parysch. Early marriages involving this surname include John Paris to Elena Hevercroft in London in 1526 and Thomas Paris to Ann Sommons at St. George Hanover Square in 1743.

History, Genealogy, and Ancestry
The original bearer is difficult to ascertain since so many people (Lords, Dukes, etc.) were “of Paris”. A one Phillip Parris was born in Little Linton and he had two sons: Phillip and William. His son William was born in 1506 in Lynton, Cambridgeshire, England. He married a woman named Ano and later Elizabeth Coningsby. They had a daughter named Frances who was born in 1546.

A one Gilles Paris (aka Paris dit Lamadeleine) was born in 1677, LeMeix, and he married Marie-Louise Charpentier. They had three sons together: Francois, Louis Igance, and Pierre Augustin.

A one James Paris was born in Louisa County Virginia. He married Elizabeth Graven and they had a son named James. This James was born in Prince Edward County and he married Sally Pendleton in 1800. They had a son named Obadiah who was born in 1805 in the same county. He married Martha Ellison and had a daughter with her named Lydia A. prior to his 1870 death in Crittenden, Kentucky.

Early American and New World Settlers
The book Genealogical Guide to the Early Settlers, mentions 21 people bearing this surname:
1) Christopher Paris (or Parris) of Boston in 1649
2) John Paris of Braintree who in 1664m married Mary Jewell, daughter of Thomas
3) Thomas Paris of Newbury in 1685, who was the son of John, was a dissenting clergyman of Ughborough in county Devon who had come two years before to Long Idland, New York, and removed to southern part of Massachusetts, perhaps Plymouth, grandfather of Reverned Martin of Marshfield, and ancestor of Governor Albion K of Maine.

Mottoes
The Paris family motto is Hoc age, meaning “Paris”.

Grantees
We have 35 coats of arms for the Paris surname depicted here. These 35 blazons are from two sources. The first is Bernard Burke’s book The General Armory of England, Ireland, and Scotland, which was published in 1848. The second is The Armorial General published in 1861 by the famous genealogist/heraldist Johannes Baptisa Rietstap. The bottom of this page contains the blazons, and in many instances contains some historical, geographical, and genealogical about where coat of arms was found and who bore it.

Notables
There are thousands of notable people with the Paris surname. This page will mention a handful. Famous people with this last name include: 1) Aime Paris (1798-1866) who was a French scholar that developed a method of stenography, 2) Bruno Paulin Gaston Paris (1839-1903) who was a French writer and scholar nominated for a Nobel Prize in Literature three times, 3) Maria Antonia Paris (1813-1885) Catholic nun who founded the Claretian Sisters in Cuba, 4) Wilbur de Paris (1900-1973) who was a trombone player and band leader known for mixing jazz and swing, 5) Sir William de Paris was a Member of Parliament for Lincolnshire and a soldier in the Wars of Scottish Independence, and 6) Matthew Paris (1200-1259) who was a Benedectine monk and English chronicler.

Blazons & Genealogy Notes

1) (Little Linton, co. Cambridge, and Poding-Norton, co. Norfolk). Gu. three unicorns’ heads couped or.
2) (Hitchin, co. Herts, and Stone, co. Huntingdon; granted 15 June, 1573). Gu. a fess wavy betw. three unicorns’ heads couped or. Crest—A sphinx couchant gu. face and breast ppr. wings endorsed or, crined of the last.
3) (co. Huntingdon). Same Arms and Crest, the sphinx or, face and breast ppr.
4) (co. Lincoln). Sa. a chev. betw. three (another, ten) crosses crosslet ar.
5) Gu. three unicorns’ heads couped or, a border engr. of the last.
6) Gu. a saltire betw. four lions ramp. or.
7) Ar. a chev. betw. ten crosses crosslet sa.
8) (or , or Parris). Ar. a bend gobony az. and gu.
9) (Scotland). Gu. a ship in full sail or, masts and sails ar. betw. three fleurs-de-lis of the second. Crest—A quill in pale ppr.
10) LausanneDe gueules à un bras en pal paré d’or mouvant de la pointe et empoignant un caillou au naturel. English: Gules an arm in pale clothed or coming from the base of the shield and holding a pebble [stone] all proper
11) Neufchâtel – (Tripet et Colin)De gueules à une pyramide d’or acc en pointe d’un tertre de trois coupeaux d’argent au chef cousu d’azur chargé d’une fleur-de-lis d’argent. English: Gules a pyramid or surrounded by in base a hillock of three peaks argent and a chief [stitched, i.e. OK with colours touching] azure charged with a fleur-de-lys argent.
12) Ile-de-FranceD’azur à trois têtes de chien d’argent. English: Azure three dog’s heads argent
13) Ile-de-France – Tombeau de Denise P. femme de Louis Tillet mort en 1618Un chevron acc de trois croissants. English: [from an ancient engraving so no colours available] A chevron surrounded by three crescents.
14) Neufchâtel – (Tripet)De gueules à une marque de marchand composée d’une croix latine dont le pied est uni à deux V entrelacés dont l’un est renversé le tout accosté de deux roses le tout d’or. English: Gules a mason’s mark composed of a latin cross whose foot is plain [i.e. Not fitchy] with two ‘V’d interlaced where one is inverted all surrounded by two roses all or.
15) PicardieD’argent à trois chapelets de sinople fleuris de gueules. English: Argent three chapelets [small wreath of leaves] vert flowered gules.
16) PoméranieD’argent à un bras armé et gantelé d’azur en pal mouvant de la pointe tenant une épée d’argent en barre Cimier trois lis de jardin d’argent tigés et feuillés de sinople Lambrequin d’argent et d’azur. English: Argent an arm armoured and gauntleted azure in pale coming from the base holding a sword argent fesswise Crest: three lilies of the garden [i.e. Flowers] argent stems and leaves vert Mantling: argent and azure.
17) Neufchâtel – (Tripet) (Annuario 1904)De sable à une tour d’argent couverte de gueules percée de trois fenêtres et de deux archières accostée de deux étoiles (8) du second et soutenue d’une terrasse de sinople. English: Sable a tour argent roofed gules pierced with three windows and two arrow slits between two etoiles of 8 points of the second, upon a mount vert.
18) De sinople à une ancre d’argent dont la trabe est croisettée par les deux bouts surmontée de deux étoiles d’argent. English: Vert, an anchor argent whose stock is crossed by the two ropes surmounted by two etoiles argent.
19) HollandeD’argent à la fasce vivrée de gueules. English: Argent a fess dancetty [but big, with 90º corners] gules

20) ArtoisDe gueules à trois têtes de lion d’or. English: Gules, three lion heads or
21) Bavière – (Conc. d’arm., 2 juillet 1544)Coupé d’argent sur gueules à un chevreuil rampant au naturel couronné d’or tenant entre ses pattes une pierre couverte de mousse et soutenu d’un tertre de sinople Cimier le chevreuil issant. English: Per fess argent over gules a roe deer rampant proper crowned or holding between its paws a stone covered in moss and standing on a hillock vert Crest: the deer issuant.
22) (Barons de Dagonville, comtes de Sampigny, marquis de Brunoy) – Lorraine – (Comtes, 2 mars 1730)D’or à la fasce d’azur ch d’une pomme d’or tigée et feuillée de sinople la queue en haut (Armes des quatre frères fermiers-généraux sous le règne de Louis XV). English: Or a fess azure charged with a apple or stem and leaves vert the stalk upwards (Arms of four brothers, farmer generals under the reign of Louis XV)
23) ArtoisD’azur à une merlette d’or. English: Azure a female blackbird or.
24) BourgogneDe gueules à la fasce d’or ch de trois fleurs-de-lis d’azur et acc de six merlettes d’argent. English: Gules a fess or charged with three fleur-de-lys azure and surrounded by six female blackbirds argent.
25) FribourgD’azur à une fleur-de-lis d’or acc en chef de deux étoiles (5) du même et en pointe d’un tertre de trois coupeaux de sinople. English: Azure a fleur-de-lys or surrounded by in chief two etoiles of five points of the same and in base by a hillock of three peaks vert.
26) GrenobleD’azur à une main d’argent sortant d’une nuée du même mouvant du flanc senestre tenant une pomme pendante d’or tigée et feuillée de sinople. English: Azure a hand argent coming out of a cloud of the same coming from the sinister flank holding an apple hanging or stem and leaves vert.
27) FlandreCoticé d’or et de gueules. English: The field being formed of ten bendlets alternately or and gules.
28) France – (baron de l’Empire)Écartelé au 1 d’or à un palmier de sinople terrassé du même aux 2 et 3 de gueules à un lévrier passant d’argent colleté et bouclé d’or au 4 d’or à une tour de sable senestrée de son avant-mur du même mouvant du flanc senestre. English: Quarterly 1st or a palm tree vert on mount of the same 2nd & 3rd gules a greyhound passant argent collared and buckled or 4th or a tower sable having on the sinister an outer wall of the same coming from the sinister flank.
29) (de) Ile-de-FranceD’argent à la fasce d’azur ch d’une étoile d’or et acc de trois merlettes de sable. English: Argent a fess azure charged with an etoile or and surrounded by three small birds without beak and feet [merlette] sable.
30) (de) Sceau de Thomas de Paris, XVe SiècleTrois oiseaux (corbeaux ?) 2 et 1. English: [from an ancient engraving so no colours available] Three birds (possibly crows?) 2 and 1.
31) (de) Artois – (J. Tremblot, Rantigny). Originaire de GandDe gueules à trois têtes de lion (alias léopard) d’or Tenants deux anges. English: Gules three lion heads (also known as leopard’s) or Supporters: two angels.
32) (de) DauphinéD’azur à la fasce acc en chef de trois roses et en pointe d’une tour le tout d’or. English: Azure a fess surrounded by in chief three roses and in base a tower or.
33) (de) ForezD’argent à la fasce de gueules acc en chef de trois roses rangées de et en pointe d’une tour d’azur. English: Argent a fess gules surrounded by in chief three roses in [word missing, probably “fess”] [also no colour given] and in base by a tower azure. [I will go back to the source and check this one]
34) (von) Bavière – (Nob. du St-Empire, 6 juillet 1744)Coupé au 1 d’argent au lion léopardé d’azur au 2 de gueules à trois fleurs-de-lis d’argent Casque couronné Cimier un lion issant d’azur tenant entre ses pattes une fleur-de-lis d’argent Lambrequin à dextre d’argent et d’azur à senestre d’argent et de gueules. English: Per fess 1st argent a lion passant azure 2nd gules three fleur-de-lys argent Crowned with a helmet Crest: a lion issuant azure holding between its paws a fleur-de-lys argent Mantling: to the dexter argent and azure to the sinister argent and gules.
35) (ou Parisii, Parison, Parisot) Provence – Sieurs du RevestDe gueules à une bande d’argent vidée d’azur chargée de cinq étoiles d’or et acc de deux châteaux donjonnés d’argent celui du chef acc à dextre d’une demi-fleur-de-lis défaillante à senestre l’écu bordé d’or. English: Gules a bend argent voided azure charged with five etoiles or and accompanied by two towers triple towered argent that in chief having to the dexter a demi-fleur-de-lys, of the sinister half, the shield overall bordered or.