How common is the surname Purnell?

8,441 people in the United States had the surname Purnell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 36,577 Americans. It ranked 4,197th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Purnell?

Ella Purnell, British actress (born 1996), followed by Alexander Purnell.

Where is the surname Purnell most common?

Wikidata records people named Purnell in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States.

Is the surname Purnell getting more or less common?

More common. 7,725 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,441 in 2010, up 9.3%.

The surname Purnell

A surname, carried by 8,441 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex P654

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Purnell is more common than 97.4% of them.

Origin

Variant of Parnell.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 8,441 people named Purnell in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 36,577 Americans. That is up 9.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 7,725.

#4,197

rank among US surnames

8,441

people in 2010

2.9

per 100,000 Americans

+9.3%

change since 2000 (was #4,243)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,188	Gillen	8,462	36,486
#4,189	Kersey	8,459	36,499
#4,190	Gorham	8,458	36,503
#4,191	Cai	8,457	36,508
#4,192	Griego	8,456	36,512
#4,193	McLendon	8,453	36,525
#4,194	Forsyth	8,450	36,538

Who is named Purnell

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

62% of people named Purnell identified as Black (not Hispanic), 32% as white (not Hispanic) and 3.1% as two or more races.

Black (not Hispanic) 62%
White (not Hispanic) 32%
Two or more races 3.1%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 1.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.3%

Compare: most common surnames among Black Americans.

Famous Purnells

4 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Ella Purnell
British actress (born 1996)
Alexander Purnell
Australian rower, born 1995
James Purnell
BBC's Director of Radio and Education, former Labour minister, born 1970
William R. Purnell
American officer, 1886–1955

Notable Purnells come mostly from the United Kingdom (2), Australia (1) and the United States (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Pournelle

Surnames that sound like Purnell

Purnell has the Soundex code P654, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P654.

Questions

Where does the surname Purnell come from?: Variant of Parnell.
How common is the surname Purnell?: 8,441 people in the United States had the surname Purnell in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 36,577 Americans. It ranked 4,197th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Purnell?: In the 2010 Census, 62% of people named Purnell identified as Black (not Hispanic), and 32% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Purnell?: Ella Purnell, British actress (born 1996), followed by Alexander Purnell.
Where is the surname Purnell most common?: Wikidata records people named Purnell in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States.
Is the surname Purnell getting more or less common?: More common. 7,725 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,441 in 2010, up 9.3%.
What are other spellings of Purnell?: Pournelle.