How Many People Are Named Ethel?
people named Ethel are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 9,332 people in the US has this name
Based on 280,412 babies named Ethel in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
๐ Rare
Peak Year
8,110 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
๐ Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Short form of names beginning with the Old English element รฆรฐel meaning "noble". It was coined in the 19th century, when many Old English names were revived. It was popularized by the novels 'The Newcomes' (1855) by William Makepeace Thackeray and 'The Daisy Chain' (1856) by C. M. Yonge. A famous bearer was American actress and singer Ethel Merman (1908-1984).
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
โง Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Ethel (99.6%) were girls.
๐ฅ Age Distribution
The average person named Ethel alive today is about 75 years old, and 89% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 69 and 85 in 2025.
๐ Popularity Over Time
Ethel first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1918, to 8,110 babies. In 2025, 34 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
๐ Rank History
Ethel reached #6 among girls' names in 1896, and was in the top 10 for 16 years, 1888 to 1903. In 2025 it ranked #4,210.
| Girls | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #4,210 |
| Best rank | #6 (1896) |
| Years in the top 10 | 16 |
| Years in the top 100 | 60 (1880 to 1939) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #22 in the 1910s |
๐ State-Wise Distribution
People named Ethel alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Ethel were born in Mississippi than in any other state: about 2,436 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Ethel was given 2.1 times as often in Mississippi, 2 times in Louisiana and 1.9 times in South Carolina.
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