Parrott
An English surname that may come from a nickname for a talkative person, or from forms of Peter/Pierre.
The #2,620 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 22,449 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Historical sources give more than one possible origin for Parrott. One explanation connects it with French Pierre through the diminutive Perrot/Parrot, meaning “little Peter,” while another treats it as a nickname from parrot, the bird, for someone seen as chatty or talkative. A further possibility is a local origin from the River Parret in Somerset, though that is less certain.
History
The name appears in several spellings, including Parrett, Parritt, Parratt, and Perrott. English surname writers in the 19th century especially noted that Parrott was common in the United States. The surname also turns up in Irish records, where it may reflect different background forms in some families.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname writers treated Parrott as a good example of how a single family name could have several different origins depending on the branch of the family.
From the historical record
“Parocke is the form of the name in H.R. PARROTT. ]May have been originally applied to a talkative person. So the clas- sical Psittacus, from ^VirraKi]. There is however equal probability of its liaving been derived from the river Parret, or from Pierrot, a French diminutive of Pierre, Peter. The surname has been…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom