The name "Le Perche" derives from the Latin "Silva pertica" which originally denoted an immense forest on the borders of the Gaulish cities of the Essuins (capital: Sées), the Eburovices (capital: Évreux), the Cenomans (capital: Le Mans) and the Carnutes (capital: Chartres).
When the departments were being created by the Constituent Assembly in 1792, Le Perche was carved up among four of them: Orne and Eure-et-Loir for the most part, and to a lesser extent, Sarthe and Loir-et-Cher.