Purviance is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: David Purviance (1766–1847), American state legislator in Kentucky and Ohio Douglas Purviance (born 1952), American jazz musician Edna Purviance (1895–1958), American actress Samuel Anderson Purviance (1809–1882), U. S. Representative from Pennsylvania Samuel Dinsmore Purviance (1774–1806), U. S. Representative from North Carolina Susan Marie Purviance (born 1955), American philosopher William Alexander Purviance (1788–1857), American state legislator in Pennsylvania Helen Purviance (1889–1984), Salvation Army officer, "Doughnut Girl" of World War I