Parham (surname)

Parham is a habitational name derived from villages in Suffolk in East Anglia in the East of England, and Sussex in South East England.[3] It is etymologically derived from the pre-7th century Old English words "peru" or "pere" meaning "pear," and "ham" meaning "hamlet" or "region."[4] As a surname, it is also descriptive, being used to describe someone who lived or worked in or near a pear orchard, or generally someone from a pear-producing region.[5]

European pears

A very old surname, Parham was first recorded in 1086 in Parham, a village in Suffolk, under an individual named Turmod de Perham in the "little" Domesday Book for Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex during the reign of King William I (1066 - 1087).[6] The village itself was listed as "Perreham" in the publication.[7]

Until the gradual standardization of English spelling in the last few centuries, English lacked any comprehensive system of spelling. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents, meaning that a person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. As such, different variations of the Parham surname usually have the same origin.[8]

• Arthur Parham (1883–1961), English bishop
• Charles Fox Parham (1873–1929), American preacher instrumental in the formation of Pentecostalism
• Donald Parham (born 1997), American football player
• Easy Parham (1921–1982), American professional basketball player
• Sir Frederick Parham (1901–1991), Royal Navy admiral
• Lennon Parham (born 1976), American actress
• Lucy Parham (born 1966), British concert pianist
• Nora Parham (1927–1963), Belizean murderer
• Philip Parham (born 1960), British ambassador
• Robert Parham (born 1966), American kickboxer
• Tiny Parham (1900–1943), Canadian-born American jazz bandleader and pianist
• Truck Parham (1911–2002), American jazz double-bassist