Parker
Parker Name Meaning, Origin & Popularity
PAR-ker
Meaning of Parker: Parker derives from the Middle English and Old French parker, meaning "keeper of the park" or "gamekeeper.".
A park in medieval England was an enclosed area of land for keeping game animals, and the parker was the official responsible for its management -- a valued position in the feudal system.
The surname Parker was established in England by the thirteenth century and spread widely as an occupational name. It traveled to North America with English settlers and became a common family name across New England and the mid-Atlantic colonies.
What Does Parker Mean? Origin & Etymology
As a given name, Parker was almost exclusively male through most of the twentieth century, associated with figures such as Charlie Parker (1920-1955), the jazz saxophone innovator known as Bird, whose influence on American music was transformative. The name carried a cool, artistic edge through his association.
Parker began crossing into female use in the 1990s, following the broader American trend of occupational surnames being adopted for girls. Sarah Jessica Parker's fame through Sex and the City (1998-2004) contributed to this crossover, though she uses it as a surname.
Parker ranked 94th for boys in the US in 2024 and inside the top 250 for girls. The name's clean two-syllable sound and its century-long association with independence and creative achievement give it appeal across genders and naming styles.
How Popular Is Parker?
Numerology & Symbolism of Parker
Based on Pythagorean numerology — a traditional system linking name letters to numbers. Presented for cultural interest.
Parker – Similar Names & Alternatives
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Frequently Asked Questions about Parker
What does the name Parker mean?
Is Parker a boy's or girl's name?
Parker is primarily male but is used for both. It ranked 94th for boys in the US in 2024 and inside the top 250 for girls. About 75% of US bearers are male. The crossover into female use accelerated in the late 1990s, following the broader trend of occupational and surname-style names being adopted for girls.
How popular is Parker in the United States?
Parker ranked 94th for boys in the US in 2024. It has been inside the top 150 for boys since the mid-2000s and has grown steadily as a girls' name since the 1990s. It has never reached the very top tier but has maintained consistent appeal across two decades.
Who was Charlie Parker?
Charlie Parker (1920-1955) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and composer known as Bird or Yardbird. He was the primary architect of bebop -- the revolutionary jazz style developed in the 1940s. His technical mastery and harmonic innovation made him one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century.