Perkins

Perkins is a surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon corruption of the kin of Pierre (from Pierre kin to Pierrekin to Perkins), introduced into England by the Norman Conquest. It is found throughout mid and southern England.

Another derivation comes from the Welsh Perthyn, relative or belonging to a particular person or family, and also thought to be the Anglicized form of Peredur, from Medieval Welsh.

People named Perkins include:

Al Perkins, musician-guitarist
Annie Stevens Perkins (born 1868), writer
Anthony Perkins (1932–1992), American actor
Benjamin Douglas Perkins (1774–1810), son of Elisha Perkins, bookseller and propagandist of therapy with "Perkins tractors"
Bill Perkins (disambiguation)
Bishop Perkins (1787–1866), member of New York State Assembly, later congressional Representative from New York
Bishop W. Perkins (1841–1894), U.S. Representative and Senator from Kansas
Brian Perkins, anchor, newsreader on BBC Radio 4 - New Zealand
Bryce Perkins (born 1996), American football player
Broderick Perkins (born 1954), American baseball player
Carl Perkins (1932–1998), American singer-songwriter
Carl Christopher Perkins, politician, Kentucky Representative
Carl Dewey Perkins (1912–1984), politician, Kentucky Representative
Charles A. Perkins, American lawyer
Charles Callahan Perkins (1823–1886), author
Charles L. Perkins, author
Charles N. Perkins, Australian football and political figure
Charles S. Perkins, American baseball player
Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935), American sociologist, writer and feminist
Cyril Perkins (1911–2013), English cricketer and centenarian
Darius Perkins (1964-2019), Australian actor
Daryl Perkins, Australian track cyclist
Don Perkins, National Football League running back for the Dallas Cowboys
Edward J. Perkins, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Edwin Perkins, various including:
- Edwin Perkins (inventor), American inventor of Kool-Aid
- Edwin King Perkins, British Conservative Party Member of Parliament
- Ed Perkins, Canadian mathematician
Elisha Perkins (1741–1799), physician
Elizabeth Perkins, actress
Emily Perkins, actress
Emily Perkins (novelist)
Emily Pitkin Perkins, wife of Connecticut Governor and US Senator Roger Sherman Baldwin
Flo Perkins, glass artist
Frances Perkins, labor leader and U.S. Secretary of Labor
Frank Perkins (disambiguation)
Frederic Beecher Perkins (1828-1899), United States editor, librarian and writer
Geoffrey Perkins (1953–2008), comedy producer, writer, and performer – BBC
George Perkins (disambiguation)
Gil Perkins, Australian film and television actor
Henry Perkins (cricketer) (1832–1916), English cricketer and cricket administrator
Henry Farnham Perkins (1877–1956), American zoologist and eugenicist
Ian Perkins, American musician/guitarist now in the band The Horrible Crowes
Isabel Weld Perkins, socialite philanthropist
Jack Perkins (disambiguation)
Jacob Perkins (1766–1849), inventor: bank-note engraving, engravings transfer, bathometer, pleometer
Janet Russell Perkins (1853–1933), American botanist
John Perkins (disambiguation)
Josh Perkins (born 1995), American basketball player
Kathleen Rose Perkins (born 1974), American actress
Kendrick Perkins (born 1984), American basketball player
Kieren Perkins, Olympic gold medal swimmer
Larry Perkins, Formula One race car driver
Laurence Perkins, British classical bassoonist
Loftus Perkins, (1834-1891), English engineer
Luther Perkins, (1928–1968), guitarist, including backing guitarist for Johnny Cash
Marlin Perkins, ecologist and naturalist
Maxwell Perkins, editor for F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe
Michael J. Perkins, American Medal of Honor recipient
Millie Perkins, actor
Niles Perkins (1919–1971), American athlete and physician
Osgood Perkins (1892-1937), American actor
Paul Perkins (born 1994), American football player
Pinetop Perkins (1913–2011), musician – blues pianist
Ray Perkins (born 1941), an American football coach and former player
Robbie Perkins (born 1994), Australian professional baseball player
Rodney Perkins (born 1936) physician and entrepreneur
Sam Perkins (born 1961), retired National Basketball Association player
Shane Perkins, Australian track cyclist
Stephanie Perkins, author
Stephen Perkins, musician, drummer, and songwriter – Jane's Addiction
Sue Perkins, television presenter, actress, and writer
Tex Perkins, Australian singer-songwriter
Thomas Perkins (cricketer) (1870–1946), English cricketer, footballer and schoolmaster
Thomas Handasyd Perkins (1764–1854), businessman, philanthropist
Tom Perkins, founder/principal venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins
Tony Perkins (evangelical Christian figure)
Tony Perkins (television meteorologist)
Tracy Perkins, court-martialed US Army sergeant
Troy Perkins, soccer player for the Portland Timbers
Warren Perkins (1922–2014), American professional basketball player
William Perkins (cricketer) (born 1986), West Indian cricketer
William Perkins (Puritan) (1558–1602), preacher, Elizabethan puritan
William T. Perkins, Jr., United States Marine and Medal of Honor recipient

Fictional characters include:

Ma Perkins, star of the radio soap opera from 1933 to 1960
Perkins, character in the Harry Potter books
Ann Perkins, a character in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation
Harry Perkins, principal character in the novel and TV adaptation A Very British Coup
Perch Perkins, a news anchorman in the TV series SpongeBob SquarePants
Emma Perkins the female protagonist in the musical The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals

Companies

Perkins Engines, a UK-based diesel engine manufacturer
Perkins Restaurant and Bakery, a North American restaurant chain

See also