How common is the surname Purcell?

22,383 people in the United States had the surname Purcell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,794 Americans. It ranked 1,599th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Purcell?

Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist (1912-1997), followed by Dominic Purcell.

Where is the surname Purcell most common?

Wikidata records people named Purcell in the United States, Australia and Ireland and 1 other country.

How do you pronounce Purcell?

Purcell is /ˈpɝsl̩/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Purcell getting more or less common?

More common. 21,696 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 22,383 in 2010, up 3.2%.

The surname Purcell

A surname, carried by 22,383 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈpɝsl̩/ 2 syllables Soundex P624

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Purcell is more common than 99% of them.

Origin

From Latin porcellus.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 22,383 people named Purcell in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 13,794 Americans. That is up 3.2% since 2000, when the Census counted 21,696.

#1,599

rank among US surnames

22,383

people in 2010

7.6

per 100,000 Americans

+3.2%

change since 2000 (was #1,517)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,590	Temple	22,549	13,692
#1,591	Boswell	22,540	13,698
#1,592	Koenig	22,499	13,723
#1,594	Erwin	22,496	13,724
#1,595	Tellez	22,494	13,726
#1,596	Norwood	22,461	13,746
#1,597	Milligan	22,416	13,773

Who is named Purcell

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

87% of people named Purcell identified as white (not Hispanic), 6.8% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.8% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 87%
Black (not Hispanic) 6.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.8%
Two or more races 1.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.3%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Purcells

11 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Edward Mills Purcell
American physicist (1912-1997)
Dominic Purcell
Actor, born 1970
Steve Purcell
American cartoonist, animator, film director and game designer, born 1961
Max Purcell
Australian tennis player (born 1998)
Lee Purcell
Actress, born 1947
Leah Purcell
Australian actress and film director, born 1970
Noel Purcell
British and Irish water polo player, 1891–1962
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, born 1990
Jack Purcell
Badminton player (1903–1991)

Notable Purcells come mostly from the United States (6), Australia (3) and Ireland (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Purcell

Purcell has the Soundex code P624, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P624.

Questions

Where does the surname Purcell come from?: From Latin porcellus.
How common is the surname Purcell?: 22,383 people in the United States had the surname Purcell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 13,794 Americans. It ranked 1,599th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Purcell?: In the 2010 Census, 87% of people named Purcell identified as white (not Hispanic), and 6.8% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Purcell?: Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist (1912-1997), followed by Dominic Purcell.
Where is the surname Purcell most common?: Wikidata records people named Purcell in the United States, Australia and Ireland and 1 other country.
How do you pronounce Purcell?: Purcell is /ˈpɝsl̩/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Purcell getting more or less common?: More common. 21,696 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 22,383 in 2010, up 3.2%.