Piercen
An English given name derived from the surname Pierce, meaning "to pierce".
Name Census estimates that about 201 living Americans carry the first name Piercen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Piercen today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Piercen births was 2010 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Piercen. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
201
~ 1 in 1,705,245 Americans
Peak year
2010
14 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,142
Tracked since 1999
Popularity
Piercen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Piercen from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 103 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Piercen by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Piercen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Piercen
The given name Piercen finds its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the early medieval period. It is a variant spelling of the name "Pierce," which derives from the French name "Pierre," itself a version of the Latin name "Petrus," meaning "rock" or "stone."
During the Middle Ages, the name Piercen was particularly prevalent in England and parts of northern Europe. It was often associated with strength, resilience, and steadfastness, qualities that were highly valued in those times. The name may also have been influenced by the biblical figure of St. Peter, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ, whose name means "rock" in Greek.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Piercen can be found in the Domesday Book, a vast survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The Domesday Book mentions a landowner named "Piercen of Wessex," indicating the name's use in the 11th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Piercen. One of the most famous was Piercen de Courtenay (c. 1126-1183), a French nobleman who became the sixth Latin Emperor of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. Another Piercen of note was Piercen Plowman (c. 1330-1387), an English poet and author of the allegorical work "The Vision of Piers Plowman."
In the 16th century, Piercen Shaftesbury (1509-1566) was an English scholar and translator who played a significant role in the English Reformation. Later, during the American Revolutionary War, Piercen Butler (1744-1822) served as a colonel in the Continental Army and was present at the famous Battles of Saratoga.
The name Piercen also had a strong presence in the literary world, with authors such as Piercen Egan (1772-1849), an Irish novelist and playwright, and Piercen Loti (1850-1923), a French novelist and naval officer who wrote extensively about his travels.
While the name Piercen has undergone various spellings and variations over the centuries, its underlying meaning and historical significance have endured, making it a name with a rich cultural heritage spanning multiple regions and eras.
People
Piercen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Piercen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Piercen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Piercen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 201 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Piercen going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,705,245 US residents.
Is Piercen a common name?
We classify Piercen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 203 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Piercen most popular?
The single biggest year for Piercen was 2010, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Piercen is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Piercen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Piercen in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.