Given name & surname
Perez
“to break through”
Perez is used as a given name and a surname. One Hebrew interpretation is “to break through.”
Original Hebrewפֶּרֶץ
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Hebrew interpretation is “to break through.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Hebrew.
How it developed
In Cebuano usage, Perez as a surname developed from Pérez.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1954. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Perez appears in Genesis 38:29, Genesis 25:30-34, Matthew 1:3 and 2 other passages.
- Genesis 38:29
- Genesis 25:30-34
- Matthew 1:3
- Luke 3:33
- Numbers 26:20
From biblical name research
Perez through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 591
- 591 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1991
- 23 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #10,419 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −34%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,419 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 23 in 1991. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,240 as a first name in 2020; 680,712 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Perez’s family of names
In Cebuano usage, Perez as a surname developed from the Spanish form Pérez. In English usage, Perez has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Fares. Perez has a related form in Peretz.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Perez has relatives in 8 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.
Hebrewwhere Perez comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 7
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Perez
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Perez, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Neco
“striker” · “smiter”
>99% boys
Shaphan
“coney” · “shy”
>99% boys
Calebe
“dog”
>99% boys
Tou
“error” · “erroneous cause of action”
>99% boys
Zachery
“The Lord remembers”
>99% boys
Nahshon
“serpent” · “bronze”
>99% boys
Joeseph
Joeseph is a masculine given name from Hebrew.
>99% boys
Tiras
“but perhaps desire” · “fragmentizer or moisturizer”
>99% boys