Parnell
Anglicization of the Irish Parnel, meaning "by the whirlpool".
Name Census estimates that about 923 living Americans carry the first name Parnell. It is a predominantly male name (96.1% of registrations). The average person named Parnell today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Parnell births was 1963 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Parnell. 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
- • Although Parnell is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 57 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
923
~ 1 in 371,348 Americans
Peak year
1963
39 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2017 SSA rank
#5,104
Tracked since 1912
Census
Parnell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 825 people with the first name Parnell, which placed it at #14,309 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
#14,309
National first-name rank
People counted
825
825 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Parnell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Parnell is Black at 67.5%. The next largest groups are White (23.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (3.4%). 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 Parnell 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 Parnell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.5% · 557
- White23.5% · 194
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.4% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 19
- Two or more races1.7% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 13
Gender
Gender distribution for Parnell
Parnell leans heavily male at 96.1% of total registrations, but 57 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Parnell as a male name
- Ranked #9,468 in 2017
- 8 male births in 2017
- Peak: 1963 (39 births)
Parnell as a female name
- Ranked #5,104 in 1949
- 6 female births in 1949
- Peak: 1917 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Parnell leans strongly male. 785 people counted with this name were male (94.4%), compared with 47 female bearers (5.6%).
Popularity
Parnell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Parnell from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 262 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Parnell 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 Parnell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Parnells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Illinois, Louisiana, Arkansas recorded the most babies named Parnell, while Kentucky, Georgia, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Parnell
The name Parnell originated from the Middle English word "parnell," which was derived from the Old French word "parneille" or "pernelle," meaning "a little key." This name was initially given to children born with a caul, a piece of membrane that sometimes covers a newborn's head during birth, which was believed to bring good luck.
In the early medieval period, the name Parnell was primarily used in England and parts of France. It was a relatively uncommon name but was occasionally found in historical records and literary works from that time.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Parnell can be found in the 13th-century work "The Ancren Riwle" (The Anchoresses' Rule), a guide for anchoresses (religious recluses) written in the West Midlands region of England. The text mentions a character named "Parnell the Handmaiden."
In the late 16th century, Parnell Willobie was an English poet best known for the work "Willobie His Avisa," published in 1594. This poem is considered one of the earliest examples of the sonnet cycle in English literature.
Another notable bearer of the name was Parnell Thomas (1896-1970), an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey and gained notoriety as the chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and early 1950s.
In the world of literature, Parnell Munson (1898-1976) was an American author and teacher known for her novel "The Evergreen Tree," published in 1938, which explored themes of family dynamics and social change in the American South.
Parnell Hall (born 1944) is an American writer and actor, best known for his series of mystery novels featuring the protagonist Stanley Hastings, a private detective in New York City.
While the name Parnell has been relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been borne by individuals from various backgrounds and professions, each leaving their mark in their respective fields.
People
Parnell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Parnell 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
Parnell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Parnell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 923 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Parnell 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 371,348 US residents.
Is Parnell a common name?
We classify Parnell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,479 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Parnell most popular?
The single biggest year for Parnell was 1963, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Parnell is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Parnell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 825 people with the name Parnell, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,309 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 Parnell 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 Parnell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Parnell leans strongly male. 785 people counted with this name were male (94.4%), compared with 47 female bearers (5.6%). 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 Parnell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Parnell is Black at 67.5%. The next largest groups are White (23.5%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (3.4%). 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 Parnell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Parnell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.5% (557 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 Parnell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Parnell a male name?
Yes, 96.1% of people registered as Parnell 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 Parnell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Parnell 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 Parnell 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 are named Parnell?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.