Parks
An English name signifying a cultivated outdoor recreation area.
Name Census estimates that about 1,043 living Americans carry the first name Parks. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Parks today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Parks births was 2024 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Parks. 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 328,624 Americans
Peak year
2024
65 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,382
Tracked since 1892
Gender
Gender distribution for Parks
Out of the 1,401 babies given the name Parks since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Parks as a male name
- Ranked #2,382 in 2024
- 59 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (63 births)
Parks as a female name
- Ranked #14,804 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (6 births)
Popularity
Parks: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Parks from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 400 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Parks remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Parks 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 Parks 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 5 states and territories. North Carolina, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Parks, while Tennessee, Utah, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 55 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Parks
The name Parks is an English name derived from the Old English word "pearroc," which means an enclosed area or field. The name's origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages, specifically the 11th century, when it was used to refer to individuals who lived near or worked in enclosed areas, such as parks or gardens.
In the early days, the name was spelled in various ways, including "Parke," "Parkes," and "Parkes." It was a common name among the English aristocracy and gentry, as many of them owned large estates with parks and gardens.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Parks dates back to the 13th century, when a man named William de Parco was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in England. The name also appeared in various medieval literature, such as the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, where a character named Parkes is mentioned.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Parks. One of the most famous was Rosa Parks (1913-2005), an American civil rights activist known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955. Her defiance of segregation laws sparked a significant movement in the civil rights struggle.
Another prominent figure was Gordon Parks (1912-2006), an American photographer, filmmaker, and writer who was best known for his work with Life magazine and his influential photographic essays on poverty and racial inequality.
In the literary world, Mungo Park (1771-1806) was a Scottish explorer who gained fame for his travels in West Africa and for being the first European to explore the Niger River.
In the field of sports, there was Walter Parks (1918-1969), an American baseball player who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and was part of the team that won the 1960 World Series.
Lastly, Benjamin Parks (1938-2010) was an American actor and playwright, known for his work in television shows like "The Wire" and "Oz," as well as his contributions to the development of African-American theater.
People
Parks + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Parks 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
Parks: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Parks?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,043 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Parks 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 328,624 US residents.
Is Parks a common name?
We classify Parks as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,401 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Parks most popular?
The single biggest year for Parks was 2024, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Parks is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Parks a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Parks 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.
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.