ELIZABETH PARRISH

The usual spelling of Elisabeth in English. It is recorded in the medieval period, but was made popular by being borne by Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603). In the 20th century it again became extremely fashionable, partly because it was the name of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1900–2002), who in 1936 became Queen Elizabeth as the wife of King George VI, and after his death in 1952 achieved great public affection as Queen Mother for nearly half a century. Even more influentially, it is the name of her daughter Queen Elizabeth II (b. 1926).

English (mainly southern): from the Old French habitational name and personal name Paris (see Paris 1). Parrish is the most common form of the name in English, and is the result of confusion between -s and -sh (compare Norris), reinforced by folk etymological association with the modern English word parish. In the 17th and 18th centuries the surname was occasionally bestowed on foundlings brought up at the expense of the parish.