When Hester Pierce was born in February 1696, in Dartford, Kent, England, her father, Henry Pierce, was 29 and her mother, Elizabeth Angles, was 31.
English, Welsh, and Irish: from the Anglo-Norman French and Middle English personal name Piers, Peres, Peris, an Old French nominative of Pierre or Per, the French form of Peter . Pierce is especially frequent in northwestern Wales and Lancashire, while Pearce is the more common spelling in the rest of England. In Ireland Pierce and Pearse represent a shortened Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Piarais ‘son of Piaras’, a Gaelicized form of Piers.
Americanized form of some similar-sounding Jewish surname.
History: Franklin Pierce (1804–69), 14th president of the US, was born in Hillsborough, NH, on the New England frontier. His English ancestor Thomas Pierce emigrated to Charlestown, MA, in 1633/34.
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