Perkins

Perkins is a surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon corruption of the kin of Pierre (from Pierre kin to Pierrekin to Perkins), introduced into England by the Norman Conquest. It is found throughout mid and southern England.

Another derivation comes from the Welsh Perthyn, relative or belonging to a particular person or family, and also thought to be the Anglicized form of Peredur, from Medieval Welsh.

People named Perkins include:

• Al Perkins, musician-guitarist
• Annie Stevens Perkins (born 1868), writer
• Anthony Perkins (1932–1992), American actor
• Benjamin Douglas Perkins (1774–1810), son of Elisha Perkins, bookseller and propagandist of therapy with "Perkins tractors"
• Bill Perkins (disambiguation)
• Bishop Perkins (1787–1866), member of New York State Assembly, later congressional Representative from New York
• Bishop W. Perkins (1841–1894), U.S. Representative and Senator from Kansas
• Brian Perkins, anchor, newsreader on BBC Radio 4 - New Zealand
• Bryce Perkins (born 1996), American football player
• Broderick Perkins (born 1954), American baseball player
• Carl Perkins (1932–1998), American singer-songwriter
• Carl Christopher Perkins, politician, Kentucky Representative
• Carl Dewey Perkins (1912–1984), politician, Kentucky Representative
• Charles A. Perkins, American lawyer
• Charles Callahan Perkins (1823–1886), author
• Charles L. Perkins, author
• Charles N. Perkins, Australian football and political figure
• Charles S. Perkins, American baseball player
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1860–1935), American sociologist, writer and feminist
• Cyril Perkins (1911–2013), English cricketer and centenarian
• Darius Perkins (1964-2019), Australian actor
• Daryl Perkins, Australian track cyclist
• Don Perkins, National Football League running back for the Dallas Cowboys
• Doron Perkins, American professional basketball player, 2009 Israeli Basketball Premier League MVP
• Edward J. Perkins, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
• Edwin Perkins, various including:
  • Edwin Perkins (inventor), American inventor of Kool-Aid
  • Edwin King Perkins, British Conservative Party Member of Parliament
  • Ed Perkins, Canadian mathematician
• Elisha Perkins (1741–1799), physician
• Elizabeth Perkins, actress
• Emily Perkins, actress
• Emily Perkins (novelist)
• Emily Pitkin Perkins, wife of Connecticut Governor and US Senator Roger Sherman Baldwin
• Flo Perkins, glass artist
• Frances Perkins, labor leader and U.S. Secretary of Labor
• Frank Perkins (disambiguation)
• Frederic Beecher Perkins (1828-1899), editor, librarian and writer
• Geoffrey Perkins (1953–2008), comedy producer, writer, and performer – BBC
• George Perkins (disambiguation)
• Gil Perkins, Australian film and television actor
• Henry Perkins (cricketer) (1832–1916), English cricketer and cricket administrator
• Henry Farnham Perkins (1877–1956), American zoologist and eugenicist
• Ian Perkins, American musician/guitarist now in the band The Horrible Crowes
• Isabel Weld Perkins, socialite philanthropist
• Jack Perkins (disambiguation)
• Jacob Perkins (1766–1849), inventor: bank-note engraving, engravings transfer, bathometer, pleometer
• Jacqueline Perkins (born 1965), Australian long-distance runner
• Jacqueline Perkins (diplomat), British diplomat and ambassador
• Janet Russell Perkins (1853–1933), American botanist
• Jason Perkins (born 1992), Filipino-Canadian basketball player
• John Perkins (disambiguation)
• Josh Perkins (born 1995), American basketball player
• Kathleen Rose Perkins (born 1974), American actress
• Kendrick Perkins (born 1984), American basketball player
• Kieren Perkins, Olympic gold medal swimmer
• Larry Perkins, Formula One race car driver
• Laurence Perkins, British classical bassoonist
• Loftus Perkins, (1834-1891), English engineer
• Luther Perkins, (1928–1968), guitarist, including backing guitarist for Johnny Cash
• Marlin Perkins, ecologist and naturalist
• Maxwell Perkins, editor for F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe
• Michael J. Perkins, American Medal of Honor recipient
• Millie Perkins, actor
• Niles Perkins (1919–1971), American athlete and physician
• Osgood Perkins (1892-1937), American actor
• Paul Perkins (born 1994), American football player
• Pinetop Perkins (1913–2011), musician – blues pianist
• Ray Perkins (1941-2020), an American football coach and former player
• Robbie Perkins (born 1994), Australian professional baseball player
• Rodney Perkins (born 1936) physician and entrepreneur
• Sam Perkins (born 1961), retired National Basketball Association player
• Shane Perkins, Australian track cyclist
• Stephanie Perkins, author
• Stephen Perkins, musician, drummer, and songwriter – Jane's Addiction
• Sue Perkins, television presenter, actress, and writer
• Tex Perkins, Australian singer-songwriter
• Thomas Perkins (cricketer) (1870–1946), English cricketer, footballer and schoolmaster
• Thomas Handasyd Perkins (1764–1854), businessman, philanthropist
• Tom Perkins, founder/principal venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins
• Tony Perkins (evangelical Christian figure)
• Tony Perkins (television meteorologist)
• Tracy Perkins, court-martialed US Army sergeant
• Troy Perkins, soccer player for the Portland Timbers
• Warren Perkins (1922–2014), American professional basketball player
• William Perkins (cricketer) (born 1986), West Indian cricketer
• William Perkins (Puritan) (1558–1602), preacher, Elizabethan puritan
• William T. Perkins, Jr., US Marine and Medal of Honor recipient

Fictional characters include:

• Ma Perkins, star of the radio soap opera from 1933 to 1960
• Perkins, character in the Harry Potter books
• Ann Perkins, a character in the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation
• Harry Perkins, principal character in the novel and TV adaptation A Very British Coup
• Perch Perkins, a news anchorman in the TV series SpongeBob SquarePants
• Emma Perkins the female protagonist in the musical The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals

Companies

• Perkins Engines, a UK-based diesel engine manufacturer
• Perkins Restaurant and Bakery, a North American restaurant chain