This interesting surname is of early medieval English origin. It has three distinct possible sources, each with its own history and derivation. Firstly, Parriss may be a locational name for someone from the French capital, Paris, so called from a Gaulish tribe, recorded in Latin sources as the "Parisii". William de Paris was recorded in Documents relating to the Danelaw, Lincolnshire, in the reign of Henry 11 (1154 - 1189). The rare medieval given name "Paris" may also have given rise to the surname. This name is likely to be an Old French form of Patrick, from the Latin "Patricius", son of a noble father, or member of the Patrician class (the Roman hereditary aristocracy), although it has been associated with the Trojan prince, Parish whose name is linked to an original Illyrian "Voltuparis" or "Assoparis", Hawk. One Parisius Miles appears in Custumals of Battle Abbey, Sussex, and in 1220 Ralph Paris was recorded in Northamptonshire Charters. Finally, the surname may be locational from Paris, south of Huddersfield in the West Riding of Yorkshire, believed to have been originally called "Parysch", from the Middle English "parische", parish. One William de Parysch was entered in the 1379 Poll Tax Returns of Yorkshire, and on May 9th 1732, Joseph Parriss was christened at St. Andrew's, Holborn, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Geruase de Paris, which was dated 1158, in the "Pipe Rolls of London", during the reign of King Henry 11, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 - 1189.

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