Parke
Masculine · “From the surname Park”
Parke is the old spelling of the surname Park, and the final e carries a whiff of the medieval: a park was once a fenced preserve for deer, held by license from the king. In the twentieth century this exact spelling was the first half of America's great auction house, Parke-Bernet.
How old is the name Parke?
Parke first appears in US birth records in 1908 — 117 years ago. The typical Parke alive today was born around 1953, making them about 72 years old. About 300 people named Parke are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Parke most popular?
Parke peaked in 1908, reaching #1373 nationally. See the whole 1908 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From parc to Parke
The story of Parke
In medieval England a park was not a public garden but an enclosed tract of land, fenced or walled, where a lord kept deer for hunting under license from the Crown, and the keeper or a neighbor might take the surname Park or Parke. The sense of a public garden came later. In 1937 the auctioneers Hiram Parke and Otto Bernet founded Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York, which became the leading American auction house for art and antiques until Sotheby's bought it in 1964.
Meaning
From the surname Park, 'enclosed land'
Park comes from Old French parc, 'an enclosure', and in medieval England meant a fenced area for keeping deer. The surname was given to someone who lived by one or kept one.
How the name formed
- parc
- Park
- Parke
Related forms: Park · Parc
Pronouncing Parke
PARK
One syllable; the final e is silent.
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1908
- Most boys named
- 191517 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1373reached in 1908
- Change vs 2021
- −16.7%5 in 2023, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Parke in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Park in English — spelling variant
- Parc in French — related form
Parkes among us
people named Parke are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Parke sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Short, clear and said exactly as it looks.
- A documented English surname with a medieval history.
- Rare as a first name, so a Parke is unlikely to meet another.
- Most people will drop the e and write Park.
- Park is also a very common Korean surname, so some people may assume it is a family name.
- One-syllable names can feel abrupt with some surnames; say it with the last name before deciding.
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Parke
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Parkes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Parke are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Parke in 2025?
- Parke is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Parke with classmates?
- Parke will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Paul#262 · Patrick#235 · Peter#187 · Philip#527 · Phillip#651 · Parker#102 · Preston#299 · Pedro#455
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Parke? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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