Perica

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Perica (pronounced [pεˈrɪtsa]) is a predominantly Croatian and Serbian male given name, though it may also be found elsewhere — especially in the Balkans — and is also a prevalent surname. It is also occasionally used as a female name in the Dalmatia region. Perica is the diminutive form of Pero which in turn is the diminutive form of Petar, giving the diminutive chain Petar > Pero > Perica. Strictly speaking, the English language equivalent of the name, together with its first-order augmentative Pero, is Pete, while the equivalent of its second-order augmentative Petar is Peter.^[1]

In Croatian and Serbian popular culture the name Perica often portrays a stereotype of an innocent or mischievous young boy with a very straightforward way of thinking (a perfect example being Perica Šafranek in the 1970 Yugoslav comedy film Tko pjeva zlo ne misli). He is common in jokes, and bears much resemblance to, and parallels with, the English Little Johnny and Russian Vovochka characters.

[edit] Given name

• Perica Bukić, Croatian water polo player and politician
• Perica Ognjenović, Serbian soccer player
• Perica Radić, Serbian soccer player
• Perica Stančeski, Macedonian soccer player

[edit] Surname

• Rose Perica Mofford (maiden name of Perica that was kept as middle name), governor of Arizona from 1988 to 1991
• Vjekoslav Perica, Croatian writer and academic
• Zlatko Perica, well-known guitarist

[edit] References