Meaning not yet researched.
Ethel: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 34 in 2025. Its best rank was #6 in 1896.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #6 in 1896; #4,211 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Ethel in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#4,211 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1896, at #6.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Ethel: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 34 girls in 2025. Peak: #6 in 1896 · most girls in one year: 8,075 (1918).
In 2025, 34 US girls were named Ethel, making it the 4,211th most common girls’ name of the year, up 726 places from #4,937 in 2024. That is 7 more than the 27 girls named Ethel in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #6, reached in 1896. The most girls given the name in a single year was 8,075, in 1918. For comparison, it was #9,129 in 2015 and #176 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Ethel in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 639 babies with the name. In all, 280,412 US babies have been given the name, 99% of them girls and 0.5% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1910s, with 63,949 babies named Ethel.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 273 US girls were named Ethel; the busiest of those years was 2025, with 34. In 2025 that was about 1 in 47,273 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Related spellings in the SSA files include Ethelyn (4,450 babies since 1880) and Ethyl (2,395 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Eathel, Ethyle and Ettel are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Icelandic. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Eathel (784), Ethyle (437), Ettel (217), Ithiel (199), Eithel (182), Ethell (115), Ethal (70), Itiel (69), Ethelle (65), Eythel (28), Eitel (19), Ethiel (11), and more.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Ethel in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 34 | #4,211 | — | — |
| 2024 | 27 | #4,937 | — | — |
| 2023 | 23 | #5,440 | — | — |
| 2022 | 28 | #4,835 | — | — |
| 2021 | 27 | #4,880 | — | — |
| 2020 | 26 | #4,933 | — | — |
| 2019 | 23 | #5,490 | — | — |
| 2018 | 32 | #4,387 | — | — |
| 2017 | 28 | #4,851 | — | — |
| 2016 | 25 | #5,337 | — | — |
| 2015 | 12 | #9,129 | — | — |
| 2014 | 21 | #6,059 | — | — |
| 2013 | 14 | #8,273 | — | — |
| 2012 | 15 | #7,954 | — | — |
| 2011 | 14 | #8,333 | — | — |
| 2010 | 14 | #8,397 | — | — |
| 2009 | 15 | #8,181 | — | — |
| 2008 | 13 | #9,136 | — | — |
| 2007 | 17 | #7,496 | — | — |
| 2006 | 13 | #8,885 | — | — |
| 2005 | 20 | #6,086 | — | — |
| 2004 | 23 | #5,429 | — | — |
| 2003 | 24 | #5,138 | — | — |
| 2002 | 29 | #4,311 | — | — |
| 2001 | 19 | #5,893 | — | — |
| 2000 | 14 | #7,285 | — | — |
| 1999 | 23 | #4,770 | — | — |
| 1998 | 18 | #5,650 | — | — |
| 1997 | 14 | #6,595 | — | — |
| 1996 | 28 | #3,872 | — | — |
| 1995 | 25 | #4,134 | — | — |
| 1994 | 22 | #4,577 | — | — |
| 1993 | 27 | #3,905 | — | — |
| 1992 | 33 | #3,355 | — | — |
| 1991 | 36 | #3,111 | — | — |
| 1990 | 46 | #2,578 | — | — |
| 1989 | 51 | #2,312 | — | — |
| 1988 | 30 | #3,248 | — | — |
| 1987 | 29 | #3,200 | — | — |
| 1986 | 46 | #2,236 | — | — |
| 1985 | 54 | #2,002 | — | — |
| 1984 | 48 | #2,087 | — | — |
| 1983 | 70 | #1,589 | — | — |
| 1982 | 82 | #1,463 | — | — |
| 1981 | 63 | #1,770 | — | — |
| 1980 | 74 | #1,575 | — | — |
| 1979 | 87 | #1,411 | — | — |
| 1978 | 106 | #1,187 | — | — |
| 1977 | 106 | #1,171 | — | — |
| 1976 | 114 | #1,073 | — | — |
| 1975 | 149 | #889 | — | — |
| 1974 | 130 | #954 | — | — |
| 1973 | 181 | #755 | — | — |
| 1972 | 180 | #769 | — | — |
| 1971 | 218 | #698 | — | — |
| 1970 | 228 | #689 | — | — |
| 1969 | 275 | #600 | — | — |
| 1968 | 283 | #568 | 5 | #4,319 |
| 1967 | 341 | #513 | — | — |
| 1966 | 364 | #491 | 7 | #3,330 |
| 1965 | 440 | #457 | 5 | #4,077 |
| 1964 | 517 | #431 | — | — |
| 1963 | 524 | #425 | 8 | #3,140 |
| 1962 | 581 | #398 | 5 | #4,244 |
| 1961 | 635 | #381 | — | — |
| 1960 | 731 | #359 | — | — |
| 1959 | 681 | #364 | — | — |
| 1958 | 856 | #311 | — | — |
| 1957 | 879 | #310 | 5 | #4,168 |
| 1956 | 1,076 | #256 | 7 | #3,306 |
| 1955 | 1,103 | #247 | 9 | #2,835 |
| 1954 | 1,176 | #235 | 6 | #3,565 |
| 1953 | 1,281 | #225 | — | — |
| 1952 | 1,398 | #205 | 13 | #2,184 |
| 1951 | 1,492 | #191 | 7 | #3,154 |
| 1950 | 1,602 | #176 | 9 | #2,637 |
| 1949 | 1,753 | #164 | 9 | #2,672 |
| 1948 | 1,872 | #152 | 6 | #3,425 |
| 1947 | 2,085 | #144 | 8 | #2,948 |
| 1946 | 1,933 | #140 | 12 | #2,189 |
| 1945 | 1,817 | #134 | 10 | #2,298 |
| 1944 | 2,056 | #127 | 8 | #2,702 |
| 1943 | 2,217 | #126 | 10 | #2,450 |
| 1942 | 2,203 | #124 | 15 | #1,894 |
| 1941 | 2,273 | #116 | 16 | #1,783 |
| 1940 | 2,373 | #106 | 12 | #2,113 |
| 1939 | 2,496 | #100 | 28 | #1,245 |
| 1938 | 2,726 | #94 | 27 | #1,288 |
| 1937 | 2,763 | #88 | 23 | #1,421 |
| 1936 | 2,730 | #90 | 17 | #1,668 |
| 1935 | 3,003 | #82 | 27 | #1,303 |
| 1934 | 3,178 | #78 | 30 | #1,224 |
| 1933 | 3,217 | #71 | 35 | #1,107 |
| 1932 | 3,608 | #66 | 22 | #1,522 |
| 1931 | 3,760 | #67 | 33 | #1,199 |
| 1930 | 4,101 | #65 | 37 | #1,159 |
| 1929 | 4,519 | #56 | 32 | #1,244 |
| 1928 | 4,928 | #55 | 48 | #995 |
| 1927 | 5,483 | #47 | 43 | #1,089 |
| 1926 | 5,856 | #41 | 30 | #1,337 |
| 1925 | 6,176 | #43 | 33 | #1,262 |
| 1924 | 6,586 | #39 | 41 | #1,123 |
| 1923 | 6,541 | #38 | 31 | #1,310 |
| 1922 | 7,246 | #32 | 25 | #1,522 |
| 1921 | 7,603 | #32 | 32 | #1,306 |
| 1920 | 7,868 | #30 | 23 | #1,611 |
| 1919 | 7,809 | #28 | 40 | #1,086 |
| 1918 | 8,075 | #28 | 35 | #1,181 |
| 1917 | 7,865 | #24 | 37 | #1,092 |
| 1916 | 7,601 | #25 | 24 | #1,428 |
| 1915 | 7,379 | #23 | 30 | #1,191 |
| 1914 | 6,204 | #21 | 26 | #1,138 |
| 1913 | 5,369 | #20 | 27 | #954 |
| 1912 | 5,073 | #18 | 18 | #1,109 |
| 1911 | 4,141 | #15 | 17 | #804 |
| 1910 | 4,146 | #13 | 33 | #484 |
| 1909 | 3,661 | #13 | 25 | #521 |
| 1908 | 3,786 | #12 | 22 | #545 |
| 1907 | 3,698 | #12 | 12 | #786 |
| 1906 | 3,511 | #12 | 16 | #597 |
| 1905 | 3,401 | #12 | 14 | #645 |
| 1904 | 3,296 | #11 | 17 | #545 |
| 1903 | 3,257 | #9 | 20 | #476 |
| 1902 | 3,295 | #9 | 19 | #492 |
| 1901 | 3,067 | #9 | 16 | #493 |
| 1900 | 3,896 | #8 | 20 | #539 |
| 1899 | 2,999 | #9 | 15 | #508 |
| 1898 | 3,531 | #8 | 24 | #406 |
| 1897 | 3,182 | #8 | 17 | #483 |
| 1896 | 3,502 | #6 | 12 | #651 |
| 1895 | 3,391 | #8 | 15 | #534 |
| 1894 | 3,287 | #7 | 11 | #645 |
| 1893 | 3,119 | #8 | 12 | #586 |
| 1892 | 3,035 | #8 | 17 | #484 |
| 1891 | 2,689 | #7 | 9 | #660 |
| 1890 | 2,718 | #7 | 8 | #769 |
| 1889 | 2,463 | #8 | 14 | #507 |
| 1888 | 2,374 | #9 | 12 | #589 |
| 1887 | 1,907 | #11 | 10 | #604 |
| 1886 | 1,699 | #15 | 6 | #881 |
| 1885 | 1,495 | #15 | 13 | #526 |
| 1884 | 1,386 | #18 | 7 | #800 |
| 1883 | 1,132 | #20 | — | — |
| 1882 | 989 | #24 | — | — |
| 1881 | 788 | #25 | 5 | #916 |
| 1880 | 633 | #38 | 6 | #853 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).