2000
#2,458
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 13,473
First available Census row
Per 100,000 4.99
Uncommon Last name
Parrott
An occupational surname referring to someone who kept or trained parrots.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 14,843 Americans carry the last name Parrott. That puts it at #2,715 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 4.33 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 23,092 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Parrott surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Parrott with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
15K
1 in 23,092
Census rank
#2,715
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
4.3
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
13K
uncommon in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 12,944 bearers of the surname Parrott in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 4.33 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 2715th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Parrott, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Parrott
The surname Parrott is of Anglo-Norman origin, derived from the Old French word "parro" meaning "parrot". It is believed to have originated as a nickname for someone who kept or traded in parrots, or perhaps someone with a ability to mimic speech like a parrot.
The name first appeared in England shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066. One of the earliest recorded instances is found in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire in 1176, where a Richard Parrot is mentioned. Another early record is from the Curia Regis Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1201, which lists a William Parroc.
In the 13th century, the surname appeared in various forms, such as Parrok, Parroke, and Parroc, reflecting the diverse regional dialects and spellings of the time. The modern spelling of Parrott emerged in the 16th century.
The Domesday Book, compiled in 1086, does not contain any record of the Parrott surname, suggesting it emerged later as a descriptive nickname.
Notable individuals with the surname Parrott throughout history include:
1. John Parrott (c. 1565 - 1648), an English colonist who arrived in Virginia in 1608 and became one of the first settlers of the Jamestown Colony.
2. Thomas Parrott (1617 - 1695), an English puritan minister and one of the founders of the New Haven Colony in Connecticut.
3. John Parrott (1768 - 1836), an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from New Hampshire.
4. Enoch Greenleafe Parrott (1814 - 1879), an American inventor who patented several improvements to the cannon and projectiles used during the American Civil War.
5. Jasper Theodore Parrott (1898 - 1961), an American politician who served as the 27th Governor of North Dakota from 1949 to 1957.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Parrott
Among Census respondents with the surname Parrott, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%).
The bar chart below shows how Parrott bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Parrott surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.9% · 10,469
- Black or African American11.3% · 1,469
- Two or more races3.8% · 490
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 369
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 96
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 51
Timeline
Historical Census data for Parrott
Parrott appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#2,620
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 13,753
+280 bearers (+2.1%)
Per 100,000 4.66
Rank movement Down 162 places
2020
#2,715
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 12,944
-809 bearers (-5.9%)
Per 100,000 4.33
Rank movement Down 95 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #2,458 | 13,473 | 4.99 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #2,620 | 13,753 | 4.66 | +280 bearers (+2.1%) | Down 162 places |
| 2020 | #2,715 | 12,944 | 4.33 | -809 bearers (-5.9%) | Down 95 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Parrott surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #2,620 | #2,715 | -3.6% |
| Count | 13,753 | 12,944 | -5.9% |
| Per 100K | 4.66 | 4.33 | -7.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Parrott bearers went from 13,753 to 12,944 (-5.9% change). The surname moved down 95 positions in the national ranking, going from #2,620 to #2,715.
FAQ
Parrott surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Parrott?
Name Census estimates that about 14,843 living Americans carry the surname Parrott. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 23,092 residents.
How common is Parrott?
Parrott ranks #2,715 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Uncommon." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 4.33 per 100,000 residents, which is about 4 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 12,944 people with the surname Parrott. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (14,843), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 4.33 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 4.33 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 4 of them to have the surname Parrott.
Has Parrott become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Parrott went from 13,753 recorded bearers to 12,944. That is a decrease of 809 (-5.9%). In the national ranking it fell from #2,620 to #2,715.
What does the Census say about the background of Parrott?
Among Census respondents with the surname Parrott, the largest self-reported group is White at 80.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.3%) and Two or More Races (3.8%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Parrott in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.9% (10,469 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Parrott appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (80.9%), Black (11.3%), Two or More Races (3.8%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Parrott (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Parrott mean?
An occupational surname referring to someone who kept or trained parrots. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Parrott (4.33 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Parrott?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.