Percival is the name of one of King Arthur's knights, first written down by the French poet Chrétien de Troyes in the 12th century; it is usually explained as Old French perce val, "pierce the valley", though it may be a reworking of the Welsh name Peredur. The knight's quest for the Holy Grail kept the name alive in literature and opera. Long almost unused in the US, Percival has risen sharply from number 10010 in 2000 to number 1536 in 2025.