Find out how popular the last name Parish is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Parish.

Parish, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Parish surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Parish in America

Parish is the 2498th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Parish surname appeared 14,466 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 5 people would have the surname Parish.

We can also compare 2010 data for Parish to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Parish

The surname Parish is of English origin, derived from the Old French word 'paroche' or 'paroisse', meaning a parish or an ecclesiastical district. The name first emerged during the 12th century, and was initially used to refer to someone who lived near or worked in a parish church or churchyard.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the Parish surname can be found in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1194, which mention a William de Paroch. The surname also appears in various other medieval records, such as the Rotuli Hundredorum of 1275, which lists a John atte Parisshe from Cambridgeshire.

The Parish surname was particularly prevalent in the counties of Lancashire, Cheshire, and Yorkshire, where many early bearers of the name were landowners or tenants of ecclesiastical properties. The name may also have derived from specific place names, such as Parish Ridge in Derbyshire or Parish Cray in Kent.

Notable historical figures with the surname Parish include John Parish (1579-1647), an English clergyman and author who served as the rector of Wigan. Another prominent bearer of the name was Sir Woodbine Parish (1796-1882), a British diplomat and traveler who served as a consul in Buenos Aires and wrote several books about his experiences in South America.

The Parish surname can also be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which records landowners and tenants in England at the time of the Norman Conquest. One such entry mentions a Radulfus de Parrochia, or Ralph of the Parish, who held lands in Oxfordshire.

Other notable individuals with the Parish surname include Roger Parish (c. 1505-1585), an English Catholic martyr who was executed during the reign of Elizabeth I, and David Parish (1778-1847), an American politician and jurist who served as the 12th Governor of New Hampshire.

Overall, the Parish surname has a long and rich history, with roots dating back to medieval England and a strong association with the Church and ecclesiastical properties. While originally derived from the Old French word for 'parish', the name has since spread across the English-speaking world and continues to be a prominent surname today.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Parish

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Parish.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Parish was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Parish has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Parish was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Parish, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!