Parsons is an English surname although it's known to go back several centuries in Southern Ireland (Catholic) as well. The name has an occupational meaning, and refers to a parson's servant or a person who worked in the parson's house. Another meaning of the surname is the parson's son.
Notable people with the surname of Parsons include the following.
Academia and science
Charles Algernon Parsons (1854–1931), Irish engineer, inventor of the steam turbine Charles Parsons (philosopher) (born 1943), American philosopher Coleman Parsons (1905–1991), American professor of literature Elsie Clews Parsons (1875–1941), American anthropologist, sociologist, folklorist, and feminist Frederick Gymer Parsons (1863–1943), English writer and scientist John Herbert Parsons (1863–1957), British ophthalmologist Peter J. Parsons (1936 - 2022), British classicist and papyrologist Talcott Parsons (1902–1979), American sociologist best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism Terence Parsons (1939–2022), American philosopher Theophilus Parsons (1749–1813), American jurist Torrence Parsons (1941–1987), American mathematician
Art
Alfred William Parsons (1847-1920), English illustrator, landscape painter, garden designer Allyson Parsons (born 1965), Australian landscape artist Beatrice Emma Parsons (1870-1955), English garden painter Betty Parsons (1900–1982), American artist and art dealer Elizabeth Parsons (1831–1897), English-Australian artist Eunice Parsons (born 1916), American modernist collage artist and art teacher. Peter Parsons (1936–2022), ceramic artist
Performing arts
Agnes Parsons, American screenwriter
Andy Parsons (born 1966), English comedian
Charlie Parsons (born 1958), British television producer
Christopher Parsons (1932–2002), English filmmaker and producer
Estelle Parsons (born 1927), Academy Award-winning actress
Jim Parsons (born 1973), American television and film actor
Karyn Parsons (born 1966), American film and television actress
Nancy Parsons (1942–2001), American actress
Nathan Parsons (born 1988), Australian-American actor
Nicholas Parsons (1923–2020), English actor and radio and television presenter
Percy Parsons (1878–1944), American actor
Philip Parsons, Australian drama academic and publisher
Rodger Parsons, American voice actor
Military and diplomacy
Alfred Parsons (diplomat) (1925–2010), Australian diplomat
Sir Anthony Parsons (1922–1996), British diplomat, ambassador to Iran and to the United Nations Francis Newton Parsons, British soldier, awarded the Victoria Cross Harold Parsons (1863–1925), British Army officer, for whom Parsons Barracks named Isaac Parsons (American military officer) (1814–1862), Virginia military officer and Virginia House Delegate Mosby Parsons (1822–1865), U.S. officer in the Mexican–American War
Music
Alan Parsons (born 1948), British musician and record producer
Dave Parsons (born 1966), English bass guitarist
Gene Parsons (born 1944), American musician
Geoffrey Parsons (lyricist) (1910–1987), English lyricist
Geoffrey Parsons (pianist) (1929–1995), Australian classical pianist
Gram Parsons (1946–1973), American singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist
Lynn Parsons, British radio disk jockey
Robert Parsons (composer) (c. 1535 – 1572), English composer
Squire Parsons (born 1949), American gospel singer
Ted Parsons, American drummer
Politicians and activists
Albert Parsons (1848–1887), American labor activist, anarchist newspaper editor, and orator Andrew Parsons (American politician) (1817–1856), American politician Cornelius R. Parsons (1842–1901), New York politician Eileen Parsons, British Virgin Islands politician Ernie Parsons (born 1946), Canadian JP and politician Herbert Parsons (New York politician) (1869–1925), U.S. Representative from New York Herbert Angas Parsons (1872–1945), South Australian lawyer, politician and judge Isaac Parsons (Virginia politician) (1752–1796), Virginia militia officer and Virginia House Delegate Jamie Parsons (1941–2015), Alaskan politician Lewis E. Parsons (1817-1895), American politician, governor of Alabama Lucy Parsons (1853–1942), American labor organizer, radical socialist and anarcho-communist Robert E. Parsons (1892-1966), American politician Sidney Parsons (1893–1955), Canadian politician Silas Parsons (c. 1800–1860), justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama S. Titus Parsons (d. 1881), American politician and lawyer Thomas Parsons (politician) (1814–1873), New York politician