Bapt 'the son of Peter,' from the French Pierre, diminutive Perrot or Parrot (little Peter). Par and Per are similarly found in Parkinson or Perkinson, Parkins or Perkins; v. Porrett. (2) Nick. 'the parrot, 'i.e. the chatterer. The origin is exactly the same, the application only being different. In France pierrot, i.e. little Peter, is still the name for a sparrow, as Robin with us for the redbreast. The first instance below will prove how early the diminutive of Peter gave name to the tropical bird we are familiar with, and how popular the name of Peter was; compare mag-pie, and v. Philipshank.

William le Perot, 1277. Writs of Parliament.

Ralph Perot, 1277. Writs of Parliament.

Simon Peret, 1290. Writs of Parliament.

Perot Gruer. Calendarium Rotulorum Originalium.

Thomas Perret. Rolls of Parliament.

Perrot Loppes: see Index, Wars of English in France, Henry VI.

John Porrett, or Perott, or Parott, or Parrett, 1520: Register of the University of Oxford.

Edward Parrett, or Perott, or Perrett, 1546: ibid.

Parrott is the commonest form in the United States.

The French Péret, Perret, Perrette, Pierrat, Pierret = Père,Perre, Pierre, i.e. Peter (q.v.) + the French diminutive suff. -et, -at.

May have been originally applied to a talkative person. So the classical Psittacus, from Ψιττακη. There is however equal probability of its having been derived from the river Parret, or from Pierrot, a French diminutive of Pierre, Peter. The surname has been varied to Parratt, Parrett, and Parritt.

The name of Parrott, probably a form of Perrett or Perrott, a common Somersetshire name, is better represented in Bucks, and is referred to also under that county. Robert Perrot, gent., of Oxford, who was buried in St. Peter's church in 1550, was a son of G. Perrot of Haverford - West, Pembrokeshire. Simon Parret, a proctor of Oxford University, died in 1584 (Wo.). There was a gentle family of Parratt in the parish of Enstone during the reign of Elizabeth (J.) The connection between the present Perretts and the Parrotts is referred to under Somersetshire.

The Perretts and Perrotts are most numerous in Somerset, and are also well established in the surrounding counties of Dorset, Wilts, and Monmouth. They take their name for the most part, as their distribution shows, from the parishes of North and South Perrott, which lie on the banks of the river Parret on either side of the boundary between Somerset and Dorset. Robert Perrot, one of the martyrs of the Monmouth rebellion in 1685, lost his life on the scaffold at Taunton (W.). The name is now numerous in the Bridgewater district. An ancient Pembrokeshire family of Perrot, to whom belonged a lord - deputy of Ireland in the reign of Elizabeth, derived their name from a place in Normandy, whence their ancestor, as they believe, originally hailed (Fenton's "Pembrokeshire"). However, I feel doubtful about this descent, as I have already pointed out the home of this name in the west of England. The Parrotts of Oxfordshire and Bucks, who are referred to under those counties, probably also hail, in the first place, from the same home on the borders of Somerset and Dorset.