Variant of Perry, from Old French meaning 'pear tree,' used as a given name since the 20th century.
Perri is a name of layered origins — part medieval surname, part diminutive, and entirely its own thing by the time it entered modern given-name usage. The most common root is the Old English and Old French 'pirige' or 'poire,' meaning 'pear tree,' which gave rise to the surname Perry as a topographic name for someone who lived near such a tree. Perry was also used historically as a pet form of Peregrine, from the Latin 'peregrinus,' meaning 'pilgrim' or 'wanderer' — a name that carried romantic connotations of spiritual journey.
As a given name, Perry was firmly male through most of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries — most famously associated with Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, hero of the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813, and later with the fictional defense attorney Perry Mason, who gave the name a brainy, authoritative gloss in mid-century American culture. The shift toward feminine use accelerated in the latter half of the twentieth century, and the -i spelling of Perri became a preferred feminine variant, softer in appearance and distinct enough from the male standard. Perri today reads as cheerful and slightly retro — a name from the 1970s and 1980s era of inventive spellings that has aged into a gentle distinctiveness.
It suits a person who is neither fussy nor predictable, and it travels easily across cultures. British singer Perrie Edwards of Little Mix brought the name renewed attention in the 2010s, demonstrating its contemporary viability for a new generation.