Named after the rue Pernety, which honours General Joseph Marie de Pernety (1766–1856).
An artillery general who fought at Austerlitz and Iéna, he owned the land on which the street was opened. Before 1860 the street was three roads in the communes of Montrouge and Vaugirard; in 1868 the rue Pernety section gave its name to the others. It is unrelated to Maurice Pernety, Haussmann's chief of staff at the time.