Park
A masculine name likely derived from the Old English word 'pearroc' meaning an enclosed area.
Name Census estimates that about 740 living Americans carry the first name Park. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Park today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Park births was 1923 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Park. 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.
People living today
740
~ 1 in 463,182 Americans
Peak year
1923
33 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,681
Tracked since 1880
Census
Park in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,183 people with the first name Park, which placed it at #11,009 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
#11,009
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,183 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Park
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Park is White at 68.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.2%) and Black (5.9%). 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 Park 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 Park at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.9% · 815
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.2% · 215
- Black or African American5.9% · 70
- Two or more races3.6% · 42
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 11
Popularity
Park: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Park from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 222 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
Park 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 Park during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Parks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Iowa, Ohio recorded the most babies named Park, while Texas, Ohio, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Park
The given name Park is derived from the Old English word "pearroc", which means "enclosed area" or "park". The name has its origins in early medieval England, around the 6th to 10th centuries CE.
Park was initially used as a surname to describe someone who lived near or worked in an enclosed area or parkland. It gradually transitioned into a masculine given name, particularly among the English gentry and aristocracy who owned large estates with parks and hunting grounds.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Park as a given name dates back to the 12th century. A nobleman named Park de Swinford was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Henry II in 1166. The name also appeared in medieval literary works, such as the 14th-century poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", where a character named Sir Parke is referenced.
In the 16th century, Park became a popular name among Puritans in England, who favored names with nature-related meanings. During this period, notable individuals with the name Park included Park Ranger (1550-1620), an English poet and playwright, and Park Nicholson (1573-1648), a Puritan minister and author.
Over the centuries, the name Park has been borne by various historical figures. One of the most famous was Park Benjamin (1809-1864), an American writer, journalist, and inventor who played a significant role in the development of the telegraph and the typewriter. Another notable Park was Park Chung-hee (1917-1979), a South Korean military officer and politician who served as the President of South Korea from 1963 to 1979.
Other notable individuals named Park include Park Chan-wook (born 1963), a South Korean film director known for his critically acclaimed films like "Oldboy" and "The Handmaiden"; Park Geun-hye (born 1952), the first female President of South Korea who served from 2013 to 2017; and Park Jae-sang, better known by his stage name Psy (born 1977), a South Korean rapper and singer best known for his global hit "Gangnam Style".
People
Park + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Park 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
Park: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Park?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 740 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Park 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 463,182 US residents.
Is Park a common name?
We classify Park as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,628 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Park most popular?
The single biggest year for Park was 1923, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Park is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Park in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,183 people with the name Park, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,009 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 Park 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 Park?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Park leans strongly male. 1,088 people counted with this name were male (91.6%), compared with 100 female bearers (8.4%). 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 Park?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Park is White at 68.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (18.2%) and Black (5.9%). 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 Park most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Park in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.9% (815 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 Park in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Park a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Park in the SSA data are male. 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 Park still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Park 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 Park 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 people have the name Park?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.