The Parkinson surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 9,767 people carried this name — #3,637 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 30,200 people counted. That is up 6% from 9,220 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Parkinson surname

A surname originating as a patronymic.

From a Middle English diminutive of the given name Peter + -son.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Parkinson» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a baptismal name, from a given name: ‘the son of Peter’.

An early record he cites: John Perkyn, Somerset, 1327–28 (1 Edward III) — Kirby's Quest (Somerset).

His entry covers Parkin, Parkins, Parkinson, Parkisson, Parkeson, Perkin, Perkins, Perkinson, Parkyn and Parkyns.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 584 · public domain.

In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890

Ireland registered 14 births for the Parkinson name in 1890.

Most were registered in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 600 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “Dublin, Antrim, and Down.”

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born, 1890

Ulster 7
Leinster 4
Munster 3

Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 62 people named Parkinson live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Entre Ríos.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Entre Ríos 24
City of Buenos Aires 23
Buenos Aires Province 15

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

29 people named Parkinson live in Switzerland.

They live in 4 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Vaud 12
Zurich 10
Aargau 4
Nidwalden 3

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Parkinson was found among the farmers of 6 counties.

It was most frequent in Lancashire: 53 in every 10,000 farmers there — about 1 in 189. Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Lancashire 53
Yorkshire, West Riding 20
Durham 16
Lincolnshire 16
Nottinghamshire 12
Cheshire 9

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland’s registers today

Parkinson was recorded 17 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 1299th most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 16. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

23 families named Parkinson, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 147 people lived in those households, 6.4 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 2 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

Pennsylvania 12
Virginia 5
North Carolina 2
New Hampshire 1
New York 1
Maryland 1
South Carolina 1

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 256 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Parkinson in American newspapers,
1884–1913.

Newspaper page from The Western News carrying the name Parkinson
The Western News 1905-10-18
Newspaper page from The Citizen carrying the name Parkinson
The Citizen 1884-11-01
Newspaper page from Ellsworth American carrying the name Parkinson
Ellsworth American 1913-10-15

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 2,258 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Parkinson in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2000s.

74,963 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Parkinson. The most, 13,365, date from the 1930s. New South Wales has the most articles, but weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, the name stands out most in Victoria, at 1.4 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 24,812
Victoria 21,372
Queensland 15,109
South Australia 6,673
Western Australia 3,750
Tasmania 2,469
ACT (Canberra) 590
Northern Territory 66

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Parkinson.

Who carried it

People named Parkinson,
with a public archive behind them.

  • John Parkinson
    John Parkinson 1567–1650 · biologist
  • Christopher Parkinson d. 1613 · politician
  • John Parkinson d. 1847
  • Bertram Parkinson d. 1951
  • Mary Patricia Parkinson d. 2011
  • Diana Stacpoole d. 1862

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Parkinson,
in the records of 7 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States1,621 records

1,621 records of the Parkinson name in the United States
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 470
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 316
  • Other U.S. records 835
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Clifford G. Parkinson

    Born 1921 in West Virginia. Enlisted 1942 at Clarksburg; farm hand from Jefferson County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 2001, buried at Rosedale Cemetery, Martinsburg, West Virginia.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Henry C. Parkinson

    Born 1919 in New York. Enlisted 1940 at Brooklyn; office clerk from Queens County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1990, buried at Calverton National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Elizabeth Parkinson

    Arrived at New York in 1885 aboard the Gallia from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 22; shuttle maker. From Rawharstall, England.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 1,621 records for Parkinson in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia1,957 records

1,957 records of the Parkinson name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 971
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 385
  • Other Australian records 601
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record William Parkinson

    Transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Governor Ready, sailing from London in 1827. Native of Derby, Derbyshire. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1836. Married 1836 in Green Ponds, Tasmania.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record William Henry Parkinson

    Died 1869 in Launceston, Tasmania, aged 62. Will registered in Tasmania in 1869.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Ethel Louisa Parkinson

    Born 1894 in Hobart, Tasmania. Married 1911 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 17.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 1,957 records for Parkinson in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

United Kingdom133 records

133 records of the Parkinson name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 112
  • St James's burial ground, Euston (London), 1789–1853 12
  • Other British records 9
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Elizabeth Parkinson

    Buried in 1921 at Strathblane Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 46.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  2. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record James Parkinson

    Will proved in 1934; of Llandudno, Carnarvon.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record W. Parkinson

    Leicestershire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1919.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 133 records for Parkinson in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0) · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Canada118 records

118 records of the Parkinson name in Canada
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 32
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 26
  • Other Canadian records 60
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Thos Parkinson

    Came to Ontario in 1874 aboard the Polynesian, bound for Seaforth, Ontario; Irish.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Abraham Gledstone Parkinson

    Buried in 1986 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 77.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Harold Parkinson

    Died 1959, aged 45; buried at St. Vital Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.

Showing 3 of 118 records for Parkinson in Canada.

Counts: City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

New Zealand39 records

39 records of the Parkinson name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 34
  • Marlborough District cemetery records 2
  • Other New Zealand records 3
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Graham Beresford & Parkinson

    Died 1979, aged 81; buried at Ruru Lawn, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record George Parkinson

    Died 1941, aged 94; buried at Omaka Cemetery, Marlborough.

    Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Livre d’or of the French war dead, Paris
    Example: roll of the war dead
    War record E. Parkinson

    New Zealand Mounted Rifles. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 39 records for Parkinson in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Livre d’or of the war dead, Paris, Ministère des pensions, Archives nationales (CC0).

Netherlands9 records

9 records of the Parkinson name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch population registers 5
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 4
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record William Parkinson

    Died 1883 in Rotterdam, aged 57.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Rotterdam (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Ronald Foley Parkinson

    Married in 1945 in Utrecht.

    Open Archives, Het Utrechts Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Iris Cecilia Carmen Parkinson

    Married in 1934 in Amsterdam.

    Open Archives, Noord-Hollands Archief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 9 records for Parkinson in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

France7 records

7 records of the Parkinson name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Marjory Parkinson

    Born 1898 in Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine); died 1994 in Villiers-le-Bel (Val-d'Oise).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record David Parkinson

    Born 1939 in the United Kingdom; died 1991 in Argelès-sur-Mer (Pyrénées-Orientales).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 2 of 7 records for Parkinson in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Parkinson.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Parkinson is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

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