Purnell
Masculine
Purnell is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 762 boys against 6 girls since 1880.
Purnell is recorded for boys and girls alike and is one letter from a surname that dominated Irish politics for a generation and then collapsed over a private matter.
How old is the name Purnell?
Purnell first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Purnell alive today was born around 1956, making them about 69 years old. About 500 people named Purnell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Purnell most popular?
Purnell peaked in 1944, reaching #1630 nationally. See the whole 1944 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Purnell
Charles Stewart Parnell led the Irish parliamentary party at Westminster and came closer than anyone to obtaining home rule by ordinary politics. He held the balance of power, invented the modern parliamentary filibuster, and organized the land campaign that produced the word boycott. Then a colleague's divorce case named him as the co-respondent, his own party split over whether he could continue, the split lasted a decade, and he died at forty-five having married the woman in question a few months before. Irish writing has never quite got over it. A great deal of Joyce is about that split, including a famous dinner-table scene in which a family tears itself apart over the man.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The surname it resembles has a documented origin in a medieval woman's name. Whether this spelling descends from that, from a separate English surname, or from a build, is not recorded.
Pronouncing Purnell
pur-NELL
Two syllables with the weight on the second. PUR-nul, with the stress in front, is also heard.
Nicknames for Purnell
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
- 1913
- Most boys named
- 196419 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1630reached in 1944
- Change vs 2003
- 0.0%6 in 2010, 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.
Purnells among us
people named Purnell 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
Purnell 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
- Nell comes off the back of it as a short form and is established in its own right.
- It is read correctly at first sight and rarely needs spelling twice.
- It is recorded for boys and for girls, so it leaves a question open rather than closing it.
- The spelling is recorded for a few girls, but nearly every child with it is a boy.
- Parnell is the commoner spelling, so the name will be heard as that.
- Two stress patterns are in circulation and the spelling settles neither.
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Purnell
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Purnells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Purnell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Purnell in 2025?
- Purnell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Purnell with classmates?
- Purnell 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 Purnell? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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