Explore the Family Name Parmenter

The meaning of Parmenter

1. English: occupational name from Middle English parmenter, parminter ‘tailor’ (Old French parementier, from Late Latin parmentarius), which could denote not only a tailor but also a maker of facings and trimmings or a furrier. 2. Possibly also an altered form of French (and Walloon and Flemish) Parmentier, a cognate of 1 above. Compare Permenter.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Parmenter in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Parmenter has seen slight changes between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, Parmenter was ranked as the 9498th most common surname, with a count of 3139, or a proportion of 1.16 per 100k people in the United States. By 2010, its rank dropped to 10132nd, even though the count increased slightly to 3182 individuals. This represents a decrease in rank by 6.68% and an increase in count by 1.37%, resulting in a drop in the proportion per 100k by 6.9%.

20002010Change
Rank#9,498#10,132-6.68%
Count3,1393,1821.37%
Proportion per 100k1.161.08-6.9%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Parmenter

Regarding the ethnic identity associated with the Parmenter surname, again based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, there's a noticeable shift. The proportion of those identifying as White decreased from 96.34% in 2000 to 94.91% in 2010, whereas the percentages for Asian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic identities increased significantly, by 106.9% and 80% respectively. The percentage of those identifying as two or more races also saw a rise, from 0.83% to 1.35%. However, the proportions of Black and American Indian and Alaskan Native identities saw declines, with decreases of 9.64% and 45.61% respectively.

20002010Change
White96.34%94.91%-1.48%
Hispanic1.15%2.07%80%
Two or More Races0.83%1.35%62.65%
Black0.83%0.75%-9.64%
Asian/Pacific Islander0.29%0.6%106.9%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0.57%0.31%-45.61%

Parmenter ancestry composition

23andMe computes an ancestry breakdown for each customer. People may have ancestry from just one population or they may have ancestry from several populations. The most commonly-observed ancestry found in people with the surname Parmenter is British & Irish, which comprises 51.6% of all ancestry found in people with the surname. The next two most common ancestries are French & German (26.5%) and Eastern European (6.2%). Additional ancestries include Scandinavian, Italian, Spanish & Portuguese, Indigenous American, and Ashkenazi Jewish.

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ANCESTRY BREAKDOWNCOMPOSITION
British & Irish51.6%
French & German26.5%
Eastern European6.2%
Other15.7%
Parmenter

Possible origins of the surname Parmenter

Your DNA provides clues about where your recent ancestors may have lived. Having many distant relatives in the same location suggests that you may all share common ancestry there. Locations with many distant relatives can also be places where people have migrated recently, such as large cities. If a large number of individuals who share your surname have distant relatives in a specific area, it could indicate a connection between your surname and that location, stemming from either recent ancestral ties or migration.

Based on 23andMe data, people with last name Parmenter have recent ancestry locations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Ireland.

RECENT ANCESTRY LocationPercentage
Tyne And Wear, United Kingdom89.40%
West Midlands, United Kingdom89.40%
Merseyside, United Kingdom89.40%
Lancashire, United Kingdom89.40%
Greater Manchester, United Kingdom89.40%

What Parmenter haplogroups can tell you

Haplogroups are genetic population groups that share a common ancestor on either your paternal or maternal line. These paternal and maternal haplogroups shed light on your genetic ancestry and help tell the story of your family.

The top paternal haplogroup of people with the surname Parmenter is R-CTS1843, which is predominantly found among people with European ancestry. Haplogroup R-CTS1843 is descended from haplogroup R-M343. Other common haplogroups include R-L21 and R-L23, which are predominantly found among people with European and European ancestry. Other surnames with similar common haplogroups are: Moorman, Clem, Theriault, Robbins, Beals, Mazza, Champagne, Lefebvre, Robins, Albright.

The most common maternal haplogroups of people with Parmenter surname are: H1, H, T2. These most commonly trace back to individuals of European ancestry.

parmenterPaternal Haplogroup Origins R-M343
Paternal Haplo Image

Your paternal lineage may be linked to Niall of the Nine Hostages

The spread of haplogroup R-M269 in northern Ireland and Scotland was likely aided by men like Niall of the Nine Hostages. Perhaps more myth than man, Niall of the Nine Hostages is said to have been a King of Tara in northwestern Ireland in the late 4th century C.E. His name comes from a tale of nine hostages that he held from the regions he ruled over. Though the legendary stories of his life may have been invented hundreds of years after he died, genetic evidence suggests that the Uí Néill dynasty, whose name means "descendants of Niall," did in fact trace back to just one man who bore a branch of haplogroup R-M269.The Uí Néill ruled to various degrees as kings of Ireland from the 7th to the 11th century C.E. In the highly patriarchal society of medieval Ireland, their status allowed them to have outsized numbers of children and spread their paternal lineage each generation. In fact, researchers have estimated that between 2 and 3 million men with roots in north-west Ireland are paternal-line descendants of Niall.

Your maternal lineage may be linked to Marie Antoinette

Because it is so dominant in the general European population, haplogroup H also appears quite frequently in the continent's royal houses. Marie Antoinette, an Austrian Hapsburg who married into the French royal family, inherited the haplogroup from her maternal ancestors. So did Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, whose recorded genealogy traces his female line to Bavaria. Scientists also discovered that famed 16th century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus traced his maternal lineages to haplogroup H.

Maternal Haplo Image

What do people with the surname Parmenter have in common?

Spoiler alert: it's complicated. People with the same last name are usually no more genetically similar than a randomly sampled group of people from the same population. That said, people with the same surname are more likely to have similar ancestries than randomly sampled individuals. The reason is the tendency of people with similar cultural or geographical backgrounds to preferentially mate with one another. That's why people who share a surname may be more likely to share traits and tendencies in common than people within the general population. Check out the percentages below to see the prevalences of tastes, habits, and traits of people with your surname compared with prevalences among 23andMe users.

Preferences

Parmenter

Chocolate Ice Cream

Prefers chocolate flavored ice cream over other flavors.

"Parmenter" Surname 34.8%

23andMe Users 41.3%

Traits

Parmenter

Misophonia

When sounds made by others, like the sound of chewing or yawning, provoke strong emotional reactions in an individual.

"Parmenter" Surname 22.7%

23andMe Users 27.9%

Habits

Parmenter

Sugary Drink

Drinks one or more sugary drinks per day.

"Parmenter" Surname 30.6%

23andMe Users 21.1%

Wellness

Parmenter

Migraine

A severe headache characterized by intense pain, sensitivity to light and sound, and often accompanied by nausea and vomiting.

"Parmenter" Surname 11.1%

23andMe Users 16.4%

Are health conditions linked to the last name Parmenter?

The short answer is that, if there is an association between surname and health, it's usually more about your ancestry than your name. Individuals with a given surname are no more genetically similar than the general population but often have similar ancestries. The populations of people associated with those shared ancestries often have sets of genetic variations, also known as alleles, in common. Some of those alleles are associated with a greater likelihood of developing certain diseases.

Disease variant frequency by ancestry

Disease allele frequencies in populations associated with the surname Parmenter are shown below. Important Note: not everyone with a disease allele will develop these health condition

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Y402H variant

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss among older adults. The disease results in damage to the central part of the retina (the macula), impairing vision needed for reading, driving, or even recognizing faces. The 23andMe Health + Ancestry DNA test includes the two most common variants associated with an increased risk of developing the condition: the Y402H variant in the CFH gene and the A69S variant in the ARMS2 gene. Learn more about Age-Related Macular Degeneration

British & Irish 62.1%

23andMe Users 57.2%