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I like it in theory, but it does sound too pretentious to use in real like.

I would imagine that parents who named their kid Percival would have a strong set of hopes and dreams for their kid. Like they have visions of bow ties and math trophies dancing in their heads, and they’d be disappointed if their kid grew up to be a jock. Kind of like how parents who name their kid “Butch” would have the opposite issues. I don’t nevessarily think it screams “rich”, but I definitely think it screams “brainiac”, and the juxtaposition if the kid didn’t live up to that could make a lack of genius stand out more. I don’t know if I’m making sense. We all hope our kids are going to be mensa-level bright, but sometimes kids have other skills, and you want them to feel like that’s okay.

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That being said, all you have to do is remind people of the knight connection and point out how it could totally be badass.

My impression is that it started out as, if not pretentious, then certainly upper-class, and slid downwards until it became associated with middle-class and - horrors! - working-class people, at which point it retained its popularity for a while and then disappeared.

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Perhaps now it's lost that identity and could be deemed pretentious rather than just old-fashioned. I don't know. Here in South Africa, a Percival-known-as-Percy was born in 1974 and played international rugby very well, but I'm not aware that his name was widely adopted or adopted at all during and just after his playing days.

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I had a distant uncle Percival, or Percy, who was an electrician: working-class vibe!

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I don't enjoy the -er- sound: names like Gertrude and Mervyn also put me off. But Percy is one of the better ones.

I love Percival (especially with Percy as a nickname). It's like a time-worn emerald.

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Something subdued would complement Percival's grandeur, e.g.:

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Percival Charles
Percival Clair
Percival Conrad
Percival Edmund
Percival Edward
Percival George
Percival Henry
Percival Hugh
Percival James
Percival Jerome
Percival John
Percival Jude
Percival Martin
Percival Matthew
Percival Owen
Percival Quentin
Percival Simon
Percival Thomas

This message was edited 10/5/2018, 8:17 PM

I go back and forth on it, but normally I only like it as a middle name. I prefer Parsifal (or Perceval) because of the prissy/pretentious/rich vibe Percival can have.
I'd avoid middle names that are pretentious or too neutral (John, James, etc.) because they could just add to the pretentious feel. I'd aim for something kind of earthy, maybe.

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Percival Ewan
Percival Lachlan
Percival Ogden
Percival Icarus
Percival Morgan
Percival Riordan
Percival Emrys
Percival Micah
Percival Ronan
Percival Rohan
Percival Myrddin
Percival Hawthorn
Percival Brannon
Percival Soren
Percival Simon
Percival Rune
Percival Finn

Percival is great. As long as nn Percy is an option it's very usable as a fn.

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Percival George or George Percival to get the St. George and the Dragon / King Arthur vibe going. :0)

This message was edited 10/5/2018, 4:01 PM