How Many People Are Named Hershel?
people named Hershel are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 85,126 people in the US has this name
Based on 10,334 babies named Hershel in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎💎 Very Rare
Peak Year
226 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Yiddish diminutive of HERSH. As a non-Jewish American name (somewhat common around the end of the 19th century), it was likely inspired by the German surname HERSCHEL, borne for instance by the British astronomer William Herschel (1738-1822).
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
All of the babies given the name Hershel in the records were boys.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Hershel alive today is about 51 years old, and 47% are 60 or older. Half of them were between 26 and 74 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Hershel first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1924, to 226 babies. In 2025, 48 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Hershel has never been one of the 100 most popular boys' names. Its best rank was #391, in 1932. In 2025 it ranked #2,692.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #2,692 |
| Best rank | #391 (1932) |
| Years in the top 100 | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #421 in the 1920s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Hershel alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Hershel were born in New York than in any other state: about 905 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Hershel was given 6.2 times as often in Arkansas, 5.9 times in Kentucky and 4.3 times in Oklahoma.
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