What does the last name Perez mean?

Answer 1

the last name Perez means the rock in short phrases to explain it it means tough.

Add-on by Ivette:

The name Perez means "son of Pedro" (Peter). Just as the name Peter, Pedro comes from the word for "rock" (piedra) - thus you have the association with "tough." But actually, from what I understand, go back to when Jesus told Simon Peter that he would be the rock of his (Jesus') foundation (Christianity). In French, Pierre means both Peter and rock.

Also, in Spanish, when a last name ends with -ez, it means "son of." It becomes very obvious as you translate such names into "son of so-and-so." For example: Rodriguez = son of Rodrigo, Gonzalez =...Gonzalo, Fernandez = Fernando, etc. Lopez is supposed to come from "lobo" which means "wolf." Vasquez (does not end rhyming with "squeeze!") = a person from the Basque region of Spain (Vasco in Spanish).

But wait, there's more! These last names rhyme, since the accent is stressed on the next to last syllable. RodRIguez. GonZAlez, LOpez, VeLASquez, PER-ez

Thus, Vasquez should not be pronounced "Vass-squeeze" and Perez is not "purr-EZZ" but PAIR-ezz. But American pronunciation has changed that. Oh, well.