girl's name
Ethel
ETH-ul
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 282,243
Ireland
#437
2024 births
Ethel is a girl's name from an Old English word meaning noble, and it is not a name in its own right in that language — it is the first half of longer names like Ethelred, cut off and used alone. Our data marks it reviving.
- Ethel is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1918, when 8,110 babies were given the name.
- After peaking in the 1910s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
- Today about 1 in 97,513 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Ethel over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 14,939 |
| 1890s | 31,593 |
| 1900s | 35,049 |
| 1910s | 63,949 |
| 1920s | 63,144 |
| 1930s | 31,861 |
| 1940s | 20,688 |
| 1950s | 11,600 |
| 1960s | 4,721 |
| 1970s | 1,499 |
| 1980s | 547 |
| 1990s | 272 |
| 2000s | 187 |
| 2010s | 198 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 165 |
What Ethel means
Ethel means noble. The Old English element names nobility of birth rather than of character, and it never stood alone as a name until the nineteenth century.
Where Ethel comes from
Ethel is the Old English æthel, noble — an element that begins a long list of Anglo-Saxon names, including Æthelred, Æthelstan, Æthelflæd and Æthelburh. It was never a standalone name in Anglo-Saxon England; the Victorians cut the prefix off and used it alone, part of the same enthusiasm for Anglo-Saxon history that revived Alfred, Edith and Harold. So Ethel is a nineteenth-century name built from a genuinely ancient part. Æthelred the Unready's byname is itself a pun that survives only badly in modern English: unræd means ill-advised, and his name means noble counsel, so he was noble-counsel the ill-advised.
Ethel in use
Ethel peaked in the United States in 1918, when 8,110 babies were registered, and our data marks it reviving. It now ranks 1084th in France on 35 births, 1265th in England and Wales on 29 and 4259th in the United States on 34, across 282,243 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. France now gives it the strongest of those three positions, which is unexpected for a name assembled from Old English.
How popular is Ethel?
In 2025, Ethel was given to 34 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Ethel is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Ethel is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Éthel | Éthel is a rare spelling of Ethel, written with an acute accent and recorded about 35 times, mostly in France. | 35 |
Names that peaked alongside Ethel
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Ethel also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Ethel over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Ethel in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Ethelyn Ethyl Etheldreda
Sibling names for Ethel
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Ethel — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Ethel
What does the name Ethel mean?
Noble — the Old English æthel, which begins names like Æthelred and Æthelflæd.
Is Ethel an Anglo-Saxon name?
The element is, but the standalone name is Victorian — they cut the prefix off longer names and used it alone.
What does Ethelred the Unready mean?
Noble-counsel the ill-advised. Unræd means badly counseled, so the byname puns on the name.
Is Ethel coming back?
Our data marks it reviving, though the numbers remain small.
How popular is the name Ethel?
In 2025, Ethel was given to 34 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Is Ethel a girl's or a boy's name?
Ethel is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Ethel?
Ethel has 2 syllables.
When was Ethel most popular?
Ethel peaked in 1918, when 8,110 babies were given the name. After peaking in the 1910s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
Is Ethel a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Ethel currently ranks #1,084 in the United States. After peaking in the 1910s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.