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

Parkinson, 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 Parkinson surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Parkinson in America

Parkinson is the 3637th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Parkinson surname appeared 9,767 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Parkinson.

We can also compare 2010 data for Parkinson 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 Parkinson

The surname Parkinson is of English origin, deriving from the medieval occupation of "parken keeper" or park keeper. It emerged in the late 12th century, referring to those employed to maintain and oversee royal parks and forests. The earliest recorded spelling is found as "Parkinsone" in the Pipe Rolls of Norfolk in 1199.

The name is believed to have originated in the northern counties of England, particularly Lancashire and Yorkshire, where many medieval parks and hunting grounds were located. It is likely derived from the Old English words "pearroc" meaning "park" and "hien" meaning "keeper" or "servant."

One of the earliest references to the name Parkinson appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, where a landowner named Parkinsone is listed as holding lands in Yorkshire. This demonstrates the name's longevity and suggests its bearers may have been of some social standing.

In the 13th century, a John Parkinson is recorded as serving as a park keeper in the royal forests of Lancashire in 1275. This provides further evidence of the name's association with the occupation of park keeping during the Middle Ages.

A notable bearer of the name was John Parkinson (1567-1650), an English botanist and herbalist who published the influential "Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris" (1629), a foundational work on the classification of plants and their medicinal uses.

Another prominent individual was Sir Thomas Parkinson (1745-1835), a British naval officer who served with distinction during the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars, rising to the rank of Admiral of the Red.

Sarah Parkinson (1824-1914) was a notable English philanthropist and social reformer, known for her efforts to improve the living conditions of the working class in Manchester and her support for women's education.

In the field of science, James Parkinson (1755-1824) was an English surgeon and paleontologist who made significant contributions to the study of fossils and published the influential "Essay on the Shaking Palsy" (1817), which provided the first comprehensive description of the neurological disorder that would later bear his name.

Finally, Walter Parkinson (1892-1967) was a British artist and illustrator renowned for his striking linocut prints, many of which depicted scenes of industrial life and urban landscapes in the early 20th century.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Parkinson

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

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 Parkinson 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 Parkinson 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 Parkinson was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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