# Purcell (surname)

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

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 22,383 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,599 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,794 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.2% (21,696 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɝsl̩/, 2 syllables |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

From Latin porcellus.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Purcell 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) | 6.8% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.8% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.3% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5% |
| Two or more races | 1.9% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Purcell in the United States, Australia, Ireland and Canada.

## People named Purcell

- Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist (1912-1997)
- Dominic Purcell, actor
- Steve Purcell, American cartoonist, animator, film director and game designer
- Max Purcell, Australian tennis player (born 1998)
- Lee Purcell, actress
- Leah Purcell, Australian actress and film director
- Noel Purcell, British and Irish water polo player
- Dick Purcell, American actor, best known for playing Marvel Comics' Captain America in the 1943 film ser
- Joe Purcell, 13th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas (1923–1987)
- Nick Purcell, American actor
- Jack Purcell, badminton player (1903–1991)

## Similar surnames

Pursley, Pursell, Porcelli, Pursel, Parcell, Parsell, Percell, Presley, Pressley, Parsley, Pearsall, Pressler.

## 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.