# Parkinson (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/parkinson/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname originating as a patronymic.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | patronymic, formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 9,767 |
| US rank (2010) | 3,637 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 31,611 people |
| Change since 2000 | +5.9% (9,220 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɑɹ.kɪn.sən/, 3 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

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

## Who carries it

Share of people named Parkinson in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 87% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 7.9% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.1% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Parkinson in the United Kingdom and the United States.

## People named Parkinson

- Katherine Parkinson, British actress
- Mark Parkinson, 45th Governor of Kansas
- Craig Parkinson, British actor
- Bradford Parkinson, American systems engineer and developer of global positioning system
- Richard B. Parkinson, British egyptologist
- Keith Parkinson, American artist (1958-2005)

## Similar surnames

Perkinson, Perkins, Parsons, Parson, Parkin, Parkins, Parkman, Pearson, Person, Pierson, Persinger, Presnell.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.