Purcell — boys' name

What the Data Says About Purcell

The Social Security Administration has registered 454 babies named Purcell between 1915 and 1985, spanning 71 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Purcell currently falls outside the top 1,000 boys' names for 1985. The name reached its historical peak in 1948, when 13 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Purcell performed strongest in the 1920s, accumulating 91 births during that ten-year window. Across the 8 decades of recorded activity, Purcell shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in Virginia, which accounts for 12 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by North Carolina. In total, SSA state-level files list Purcell in 2 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Purcell in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 454 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.