More specifically, Y-DNA testing has made it clear that today, some 4 out of 10 of P-rr-tts in North America trace back to just 6 of the original immigrant families: William of Talbot Co. (family #012), Richard Perrott of Middlesex Co.(#064), Lawrence Perrott of Gloucester/Mathews Co. (#062), Needham Perrit from the Carolinas (#063), Francis Parrott from North Carolina (#046), and Frederick Parrott of Shenandoah Co. (#061). These all arrived on the continent in the 1600's and early 1700's. All the other early P-rr-tt families have far fewer descendants. Numerous African-American families began to appear after the Civil War, though these have remained small. In addition, there has been a steady stream of P-rr-tt families arriving from England, France, and a few other countries. As of the end of 2023, 125 individual P-rr-tt men have been identified who immigrated to the Colonies or the United States and started families. The assumption is that many of these will turn out to be related to each other once they get Y-DNA tested.

1600s:
The first P-rr-tt families settled in the Colonies in the 1600s. Though these families only make up for 6% of the USA Parrott families,their descendants account for 40% of living Parrotts in the USA today. At least 6 families are known to have become established during this period, 2 in the North (#024 and #031), and 4 in the South (#012, #046, #062 & #064). It is evident from the records that several other P-rr-tts visited the colonies, but there is no evidence any of them established families. Two of the Southern families became gigantic. Today, the descendants of family #064 Richard make up 24% of all the Parr-tts living in the USA, while those of family #062 Lawrence make up 12%. Two other families - that of family #012 William and that of family #046 Francis - also became very large, but not as large as the giant families, and today each accounts for 4% of living Parrotts in the USA. The two northern lines (#024 and #031) have remained small, with each accounting for fewer that 1% of living Parrotts.

1700s:
Some 16 families arrived in the 1700s, and collectively they account for ~20% of P-rr-tts in the US today. The family of Frederick (family #061) is the largest of the group, and makes up some 6% of living P-rr-tts, followed by the Needham group (family #063) at 4%. A group out of Granville, North Carolina (family #060), has become large in recent years and now comes in at 2%. In the North, the family of Albert Parot, a French Canadian whose descendants settled in New York and Vermont (#002) comes in at 3% of living P-rr-tts, and is the only northeastern family to have reached a size of any consequence. One family (#052), originating in Middlesex, England, just reaches the 1% threshold. The other families arriving during this period each accounts for under 1% of living Parrotts.

1800s:
The 1800s saw a large increase in immigration, with some 40 families appearing during this century. In addition, at least 36 African-American families appear after the Civil War. These two groups account for 60% of all USA Parrott families, but just 20% of today's P-rr-tts. Only the Parrotts from Lincolnshire (family #009) and the Henry Blanton Parrotts of the South (family #069) reach the 1% threshold of the US Parrotts.

The US African-American Parrott families appear during this period, but collectively, these families only account for just 5% of living Parrots in the USA; most are small and notoriously poorly documented. Only one of these lines has been Y-DNA tested.

In addition, several orphan branches appear during this time-- these are families with enough information to determine that they are not derived from new immigrants, but not enough information to place them in their proper family. There are at least 26 such families at the present time.

1900s:
The 1900's saw a marked decline in immigration. Although some 16 families are currently known to have arrived, they only make up 13% of P-rr-tt families in the USA and less than 2% of living P-rr-tts.

These statistics will change as more information comes in. It is almost certain that many of the families tabulated as separate groups will be shown to belong to the same family as more paper records are found or more Y-DNA results come in.

How many P-rr-tt families are in North America today? There are still some 90 lines that are Y-DNA un-tested, and this number will undoubtedly collapse into fewer but larger families as more families get tested. Still, as many as 60 different families is a rough guesstimate. What is certain is that the era when P-rr-tts were considered to be 'Kinsmen all,' as proclaimed in Links that Bind, is long over.

Methods: "Parrott" obituaries appearing between 2014-2023 in Obitsarchive.com and Legacy.com were monitored, and each deceased person was placed in the family they belonged to, including P-rr-tt variants. A total of 1288 obituaries was tabulated during this time. Still, about 8% of the deceased have not been placed in their corresponding family, which is why the percentages by century do not add up to 100%.

Note that these figures consist of men born with the Parr-tt surname, females who acquired their surname through marriage; and women who changed their surname away from P-rr-tt upon marriage, though this latter category is underrepresented in obituaries.

Return to the Early P-rr-tt families of North America