When Arthur Jenkins Pierce was born on 30 January 1909, in Massachusetts, United States, his father, Raymond Barry Pierce, was 26 and his mother, Florence Ethel Jenkins, was 23. He lived in Greenfield, Franklin, Massachusetts, United States in 1910 and Montague, Franklin, Massachusetts, United States for about 20 years.
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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