Parker
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Meaning
park keeper
The story
Parker's first park was closer to a deer enclosure than a place with a slide. The English occupational surname meant the park's keeper, in a landscape whose boundaries kept animals in and unwanted visitors out. Looking after a particular patch of the world was the job. A much later fictional surname gives that idea a playful echo: Peter Parker, better known as Spider-Man, helps people while also dealing with ordinary concerns such as schoolwork. The old occupation and the comic-book character are separate histories, but they make a pleasing pair of associations. One has a park to keep; the other has a neighbourhood and unfinished homework. Under the everyday surname is an old responsibility, and beside it a familiar story about fitting that responsibility into an ordinary life.
How popular is Parker around the world?
In the United States, 36,754 babies were named Parker between 2020 and 2025.
Parker is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, Canada, Scotland, New Zealand, England and Wales, Ireland and Argentina.
United States
1 in 590
In the United States, 36,754 babies were named Parker between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Parker peaked in the 2010s. In 2025 Parker went to 2,536 girls and 3,477 boys in the US Social Security record, one of the few names given to girls and boys in nearly equal numbers.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 7402017
In South Australia, 24 boys were registered as Parker in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 920
In Canada, 261 boys named Parker were born in 2024, the 120th most common name among boys that year.
In Canada, 136 girls named Parker were born in 2024, the 213th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Scotland
1 in 990
In Scotland, 40 boys named Parker were registered in 2024, the 121st most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
New Zealand
1 in 1,200
In New Zealand, 36 boys named Parker were registered in 2025.
In New Zealand, 12 girls named Parker were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
England and Wales
1 in 1,900
In England and Wales, 293 boys named Parker were born in 2025, the 175th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 3,600
In Ireland, 15 boys named Parker were born in 2025, the 286th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Argentina
1 in 330,000
In Argentina, 2 newborns were given the name Parker in 2024.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
New South Wales
outside the top 100
Parker is not in the 2025 top 100 for New South Wales.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Poland
last on record 2013
Parker is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City and Puerto Rico: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Parker
Most people given the name Parker in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Parker · Names that go with Parker · Gender-neutral names · Truly unisex names
The Parker deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Parker truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Parker fits with your family’s names and surname.
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