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Parnell

Boys' name

Possibly stone, rock, through Petronella

Parnell has been given to 1,479 babies in the U.S. since 1912. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1963, with 39 recorded.

Babies named Parnell, 2017

1 in 447,000

Parnell over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Parnell: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly stone, rock, through Petronella

surname transfer

What Parnell means

Parnell belongs to the name family reached through Parnell → Petronella → Peter. Its meaning is “stone, rock”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Matronymic from a medieval spoken form of Petronella.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Parnell (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Parnell is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Parnell is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Petronella and Peter.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Parnell is pronounced /pɑːˈnɛl/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,422 boys were recorded with the name Parnell between 1912 and 2017. Its highest annual count was 39 in 1963; its best national rank was #1,249 in 1963.

In the United States, 57 girls were recorded with the name Parnell between 1917 and 1949. Its highest annual count was 7 in 1917; its best national rank was #4,003 in 1917.

How common is Parnell?

Parnell had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2017, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2017
1 in 447,000
8 of 3,577,106 births
Among boys only
1 in 231,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2017
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
309,934 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Parnell sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2017 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 309,934 children born in 2017 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Parnell. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Parnells were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Parnell was born before 1962 — so the typical Parnell is around 63 today.

Median birth year
1962
About 63 years old
Biggest decade
1960s
18.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
9.7%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
914
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1960s — 18.4% of all recorded uses (262).

Is Parnell rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1963 (39)
Years since peak
62
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,249
1963

Spellings of Parnell

Parnell is not the most common spelling — Darrell is, with 60.0% against Parnell's 0.53%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Parnell is used

Across 1910–2025, Parnell was most concentrated in Arkansas — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 699,372 across all states with data. It was least common in Louisiana (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Arkansas1 in 100,000
  2. 2Alabama1 in —
  3. 3California1 in —
  4. 4Georgia1 in —
  5. 5Illinois1 in —
  6. 6Kentucky1 in —
  7. 7Louisiana1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Parnell has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Parnell around the world

Where Parnell ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • South Australia
    1979–1979
    #486
    in 1979

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Parnell by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,249
1963
Peak year
1963
39 that year
First recorded
1912
Last recorded
2017
All-time count
1,422
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,003
1917
Peak year
1917
7 that year
First recorded
1917
Last recorded
1949
All-time count
57
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Parnell

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ParrishParrisParishRoswellDenzellLionellJohnellMarvellConnellKordellParleyParksDonzellLyndellTravellRonnellCardellDaniellTirrellMartellParthRondellWindellTrevell

Sibling names for Parnell

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Parnell

Top names of 1963, Parnell's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1963Boys' names starting with P