Percell
A name derived from the Old French word "persil," meaning "parsley."
Name Census estimates that about 569 living Americans carry the first name Percell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Percell today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Percell births was 1953 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Percell. 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
569
~ 1 in 602,380 Americans
Peak year
1953
27 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2004 SSA rank
#12,734
Tracked since 1907
Census
Percell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 435 people with the first name Percell, which placed it at #22,776 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
#22,776
National first-name rank
People counted
435
435 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
91.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Percell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Percell is Black at 91.0%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Percell 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 Percell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American91.0% · 396
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.4% · 15
- Two or more races2.3% · 10
- White2.1% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 2
Popularity
Percell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Percell from the 1900s through to the 2000s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 190 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Percell 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 Percell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Percells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Percell, while South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 112 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Percell
The name Percell is believed to have originated from the French language, specifically in the region of Normandy during the early medieval period. Its roots can be traced back to the Old French word "percel," which meant "a small parcel or portion of land." This suggests that the name may have initially been used as a surname, referring to someone who owned or worked on a small piece of land.
In its earliest recorded use as a given name, Percell can be found in ancient French manuscripts dating back to the 12th century. One notable reference is in the poetry of the renowned French trouvère, Chrétien de Troyes, who lived between 1135 and 1183. He mentions a character named Percell in his famous work, "Le Chevalier de la Charrette" (The Knight of the Cart).
The name Percell gained popularity across various regions of Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly in France, England, and parts of Germany. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Percell de Montfort, a French nobleman who lived in the late 12th century and was a vassal of the Count of Toulouse.
In the 14th century, a renowned English philosopher and logician named Percell Baconthorp (c. 1290-1347) gained recognition for his contributions to the study of logic and metaphysics. He was a member of the Franciscan order and taught at the University of Oxford.
During the Renaissance period, Percell Gennep (1495-1567) was a Dutch humanist scholar and theologian who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation. He was a prolific writer and published numerous works on theology and biblical interpretation.
Another notable figure with the name Percell was Percell Fougères (1610-1676), a French painter and illustrator who was renowned for his portraits and religious works. He was a member of the prestigious Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris.
In the 19th century, Percell Delaunay (1828-1891) was a French mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the theory of lunar motion. He served as the director of the Paris Observatory for several years.
While the name Percell has its roots in the French language and culture, it has been adopted and used across various regions and cultures throughout history, although its popularity has waned in more recent times.
People
Percell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Percell 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
Percell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Percell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 569 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Percell 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 602,380 US residents.
Is Percell a common name?
We classify Percell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,064 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Percell most popular?
The single biggest year for Percell was 1953, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Percell is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Percell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 435 people with the name Percell, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,776 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 Percell 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 Percell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Percell leans strongly male. 416 people counted with this name were male (96.7%), compared with 14 female bearers (3.3%). 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 Percell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Percell is Black at 91.0%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (3.4%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Percell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Percell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.0% (396 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 Percell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Percell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Percell 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 Percell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Percell 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 Percell 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 called Percell?
Find out how many Americans are named Percell on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.