Parker
Masculine · “keeper of the park”
Parker is given to both — 130,941 boys and 32,895 girls since 1880. See Parker as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Parker began as a job title in medieval England: the parker was the man who kept the lord's park, minding the deer, the fences and the poachers. Somewhere along the way the job became a surname, the surname crossed the Atlantic, and in America it stepped forward as a first name — first for boys, then for girls too. Two crisp syllables that land the same way in almost every English-speaking mouth.
How old is the name Parker?
Parker was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Parker alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 127,000 people named Parker are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Parker most popular?
Parker peaked in 2015, reaching #72 nationally. Today it ranks #102, 30 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Where it comes from
From parcarius (Medieval Latin, park-keeper) to Parker
The story of Parker
The root is Medieval Latin parcarius, a park-keeper, which came into Old French as parquier and into Middle English as parker. By the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries it had hardened into a hereditary English surname, one of the great family of occupational names alongside Baker, Miller and Fletcher. English and Scottish Parkers carried it to North America, where — as happened to Carter, Cooper and dozens of others — the family name gradually turned into a given name. Its use for girls came later than its use for boys, and both now run side by side under one spelling.
Meaning
keeper of the park; park-keeper or gamekeeper
A medieval park was not a public green but an enclosed hunting ground held by a lord, and the parker was the officer in charge of it. The word reached English through Old French and Medieval Latin terms for the same office.
How the name formed
- parcariusMedieval Latin, park-keeper
- parquierOld French
- ParkerMiddle English surname
- Parkergiven name, North America
Pronouncing Parker
PAR-ker
Stress on the first syllable. One pronunciation, no regional variants worth worrying about beyond how strongly the r's are sounded.
Nicknames for Parker
Moderate
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20135,672 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #72reached in 2015
- Change vs 2022
- −9.9%3,477 in 2025, from 3,861
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.
Parker in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Ohio.
Parkers among us
people named Parker are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 491 born in 2025 was named Parker
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Curtis test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Parker's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Curtis climbed just as high around 1963, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Curtis's path sketches the road Parker is walking now.
Parker sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Parker is headed
Parker should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Parker beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Parker in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One spelling, one pronunciation — most people can both say it and write it after hearing it once.
- Serves a boy or a girl without any change in form, which is unusual among names this familiar.
- A documented history stretching back to medieval English occupational surnames, so it is not a coinage that will date to a decade.
- Has a genuine short form in Park, plus the option of no nickname at all — it is already brief.
- It still reads as a surname to many ears, which means occasional confusion on forms, rosters and email address generators where first and last names get swapped.
- The lean is toward boys. A girl named Parker will sometimes be assumed male on paper before anyone meets her — manageable, but worth knowing.
- It sits among a crowd of two-syllable -er surnames now used as first names, so it may be heard as part of that group rather than as its own thing.
- Very little scope for a softer or longer version if you want one later; Parker is essentially what you get.
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What they receive
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Parker
Masculine · #102 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Parkers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 127,000 people named Parker are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Parker in 2025?
- Parker ranks #102 among US boy names in 2025, with 3,477 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Parker?
- About 1 in every 491 US boys born in 2025 was named Parker — 3,477 in all.
- Will my child share the name Parker with classmates?
- Parker will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Parker
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Colton#103 · Adam#101 · Myles#100 · Eli#104 · Amir#105 · Ryan#99 · Dominic#106 · Archer#98
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Parker? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Parker and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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