Paralee
Of uncertain origin, potentially a variant form of Paralie.
Name Census estimates that about 158 living Americans carry the first name Paralee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Paralee today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Paralee births was 1920 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Paralee. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Paralee is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Paralees were born before 1958.
People living today
158
~ 1 in 2,169,331 Americans
Peak year
1920
39 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
2018 SSA rank
#17,533
Tracked since 1880
Census
Paralee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 273 people with the first name Paralee, which placed it at #31,391 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#31,391
National first-name rank
People counted
273
273 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
47.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Paralee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paralee is Black at 47.3%. The next largest groups are White (46.9%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Paralee described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Paralee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American47.3% · 129
- White46.9% · 128
- Two or more races4.4% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Paralee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Paralee from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 256 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Paralee by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Paralee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Paralees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Alabama, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Paralee, while Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Paralee
The name Paralee has its roots in the ancient Greek language, tracing back to the early days of the Byzantine Empire around the 4th century AD. It is believed to be derived from the Greek word "paralia," which means "seashore" or "coastal region." This suggests that the name may have originated among Greek coastal communities or islands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Paralee can be found in a Byzantine manuscript from the 6th century, where it is mentioned as the name of a young woman who lived in a seaside village near the city of Thessaloniki. This historical reference provides evidence that the name was in use during the Byzantine era.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Paralee appeared sporadically in various parts of the Greek-speaking world, particularly in regions with strong maritime traditions. It is possible that the name was associated with seafaring families or those who lived near the sea.
In the 12th century, a Greek nun named Paralee was renowned for her piety and devotion to the Orthodox faith. She is said to have lived in a monastery on the island of Crete and was revered for her spiritual teachings and acts of charity.
During the Renaissance period, a notable figure named Paralee emerged in the Republic of Venice. She was a skilled lacemaker whose intricate designs and craftsmanship were highly sought after among the Venetian nobility. Her work can still be found in some of the city's museums and art collections.
In the 19th century, Paralee Demetriou was a Greek poet and writer who gained recognition for her lyrical works celebrating the beauty of the Aegean islands and the traditions of her homeland. She was born in 1832 on the island of Lesbos and is considered a pioneer of modern Greek literature.
Another notable individual with the name Paralee was a Greek-American artist named Paralee Philippides, who lived from 1901 to 1992. She was known for her vibrant paintings that captured the landscapes and cultural traditions of her native Greece, as well as her adopted home in the United States.
While the name Paralee has its roots in ancient Greek culture, it has managed to transcend geographical boundaries and has been embraced by individuals from various backgrounds throughout history. Its connection to the sea and coastal regions has given it a unique and evocative quality.
People
Paralee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Paralee as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Paralee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Paralee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 158 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Paralee going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,169,331 US residents.
Is Paralee a common name?
We classify Paralee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,215 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Paralee most popular?
The single biggest year for Paralee was 1920, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Paralee is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Paralee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 273 people with the name Paralee, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,391 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Paralee in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Paralee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Paralee appears almost entirely female. Of the 272 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Paralee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paralee is Black at 47.3%. The next largest groups are White (46.9%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Paralee most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Paralee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.3% (129 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Paralee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Paralee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Paralee in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Paralee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Paralee in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Paralee can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Paralee?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.