Parsa
Of Persian origin, meaning "generous, benevolent, noble".
Name Census estimates that about 712 living Americans carry the first name Parsa. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Parsa today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Parsa births was 2003 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Parsa. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Parsa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
712
~ 1 in 481,397 Americans
Peak year
2003
37 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,821
Tracked since 1988
Census
Parsa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 993 people with the first name Parsa, which placed it at #12,510 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
#12,510
National first-name rank
People counted
993
993 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Parsa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Parsa is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.3%). 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 Parsa 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 Parsa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.2% · 796
- Two or more races11.5% · 114
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.3% · 63
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 15
- Black or African American0.4% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Parsa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Parsa from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 261 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Parsa remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Parsa 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 Parsa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Parsas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Parsa
The name Parsa has its origins in the Persian language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Old Persian word "parsa," which means "Persian" or "of Persian descent." This name was commonly used among the ancient Persians, who inhabited the region now known as Iran.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Parsa can be found in the Behistun Inscription, a famous multilingual inscription carved on a rock face in present-day Iran. The inscription, created by the Achaemenid Persian king Darius the Great in the 5th century BCE, mentions the name Parsa multiple times in reference to the Persian people and their homeland.
Throughout Persian history, the name Parsa has been associated with various notable figures. One of the most prominent individuals bearing this name was Parsa Veh, a 7th-century Persian general who played a crucial role in the defense of the Sassanid Empire against the invading Arab forces.
Another notable figure with the name Parsa was Parsa Kashan, a 16th-century Persian poet and calligrapher known for his exceptional skill in the art of penmanship. His works are still celebrated and studied by calligraphers and scholars alike.
In the realm of Islamic scholarship, Parsa Bokhari was a renowned 13th-century Persian scholar and Sufi mystic. He authored several influential works on Islamic jurisprudence and Sufism, contributing significantly to the intellectual and spiritual traditions of the time.
During the Safavid Dynasty, which ruled over Persia from the 16th to the 18th century, the name Parsa was borne by Parsa Mirza, a prominent prince and military commander. He played a key role in the expansion and consolidation of the Safavid Empire's territories.
Beyond Persian borders, the name Parsa has also found use in other cultures and regions influenced by Persian civilization. In Central Asia, for instance, the name has been used by various individuals, such as Parsa Khan, a 17th-century ruler of the Khanate of Khiva, located in present-day Uzbekistan.
People
Parsa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Parsa 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
Parsa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Parsa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 712 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Parsa 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 481,397 US residents.
Is Parsa a common name?
We classify Parsa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 721 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Parsa most popular?
The single biggest year for Parsa was 2003, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Parsa is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Parsa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 993 people with the name Parsa, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,510 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 Parsa 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 Parsa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Parsa leans strongly male. 937 people counted with this name were male (94.1%), compared with 59 female bearers (5.9%). 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 Parsa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Parsa is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (11.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.3%). 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 Parsa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Parsa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.2% (796 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 Parsa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Parsa a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Parsa 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 Parsa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Parsa 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 Parsa 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 common is the name Parsa?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Parsa at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.