Purnell — boys' name

What the Data Says About Purnell

The Social Security Administration has registered 762 babies named Purnell between 1913 and 2010, spanning 98 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Purnell currently falls outside the top 1,000 boys' names for 2010. The name reached its historical peak in 1964, when 19 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Purnell performed strongest in the 1960s, accumulating 126 births during that ten-year window. Across the 11 decades of recorded activity, Purnell shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in Maryland, which accounts for 64 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Virginia. In total, SSA state-level files list Purnell in 2 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Purnell 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 762 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.