Adel
Adel is given to both girls and boys: 32 girls and 21 boys were given it in 2025 (#4,354 among girls’ names and #4,707 among boys’, #5,411 among all names counting both); 3,002 Americans have been recorded with it since 1888 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,320 Americans named Adel and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (77% of everyone recorded); the median is 21 years old and half are between 11 and 36.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Adel by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Adel mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Adel is “a male given name from Arabic.”
Also “a female given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Adele.”
Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *aþalaz. The female name is a rare variant of Adele. The surname is borrowed from German Adel.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Adel?
#4,707 among boys’ names, 2025
Adel fell from #2,864 in 2015 to #4,707 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 21.4 to 12.3 per million.
65 babies in 2006, the peak
Adel peaked in 2006, when 65 babies were given it (51 boys, #2,400 among boys’ names). The 53 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 82% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 32 | #4,354 | 21 | #4,707 |
| 2024 | 25 | #5,146 | 38 | #3,159 |
| 2023 | 21 | #5,750 | 37 | #3,226 |
| 2022 | 20 | #5,983 | 34 | #3,410 |
| 2021 | 19 | #6,175 | 30 | #3,648 |
| 2020 | 20 | #5,848 | 37 | #3,074 |
| 2019 | 20 | #5,984 | 36 | #3,198 |
| 2018 | 21 | #5,783 | 42 | #2,847 |
| 2017 | 15 | #7,444 | 39 | #3,007 |
| 2016 | 17 | #6,903 | 39 | #2,993 |
Every recorded year (125)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 24 | #5,463 | 41 | #2,864 |
| 2014 | 23 | #5,623 | 42 | #2,803 |
| 2013 | 14 | #8,146 | 29 | #3,581 |
| 2012 | 24 | #5,559 | 39 | #2,953 |
| 2011 | 17 | #7,120 | 40 | #2,903 |
| 2010 | 9 | #11,258 | 41 | #2,874 |
| 2009 | 25 | #5,538 | 34 | #3,273 |
| 2008 | 17 | #7,410 | 40 | #2,948 |
| 2007 | 11 | #10,132 | 52 | #2,444 |
| 2006 | 14 | #8,239 | 51 | #2,400 |
| 2005 | 9 | #10,925 | 41 | #2,651 |
| 2004 | 13 | #8,261 | 37 | #2,785 |
| 2003 | 12 | #8,507 | 34 | #2,843 |
| 2002 | 9 | #10,257 | 38 | #2,553 |
| 2001 | 11 | #8,758 | 34 | #2,740 |
| 2000 | 6 | #13,168 | 31 | #2,860 |
| 1999 | under 5 | 29 | #2,862 | |
| 1998 | 11 | #8,013 | 30 | #2,710 |
| 1997 | 11 | #7,745 | 33 | #2,447 |
| 1996 | 10 | #8,135 | 25 | #2,906 |
| 1995 | 6 | #11,791 | 30 | #2,496 |
| 1994 | 5 | #13,442 | 24 | #2,946 |
| 1993 | 7 | #10,595 | 32 | #2,342 |
| 1992 | 6 | #11,739 | 35 | #2,169 |
| 1991 | under 5 | 26 | #2,601 | |
| 1990 | under 5 | 19 | #3,160 | |
| 1989 | 6 | #10,849 | 20 | #2,983 |
| 1988 | under 5 | 18 | #2,957 | |
| 1987 | 10 | #6,787 | 21 | #2,556 |
| 1986 | 9 | #7,132 | 9 | #4,455 |
| 1985 | 7 | #8,319 | 15 | #3,068 |
| 1984 | 12 | #5,539 | 23 | #2,231 |
| 1983 | 11 | #5,822 | 14 | #3,071 |
| 1982 | 6 | #9,239 | 7 | #5,008 |
| 1981 | 5 | #10,417 | 11 | #3,602 |
| 1980 | 11 | #5,913 | 11 | #3,616 |
| 1979 | 9 | #6,696 | 15 | #2,896 |
| 1978 | 8 | #6,948 | 6 | #5,065 |
| 1977 | 7 | #7,565 | under 5 | |
| 1976 | 11 | #5,214 | 7 | #4,423 |
| 1975 | 11 | #5,159 | 8 | #3,944 |
| 1974 | 5 | #8,780 | 7 | #4,190 |
| 1973 | 5 | #8,428 | under 5 | |
| 1972 | 7 | #6,558 | under 5 | |
| 1971 | 6 | #7,389 | under 5 | |
| 1970 | 7 | #6,363 | under 5 | |
| 1969 | 10 | #4,722 | 7 | #3,597 |
| 1968 | 6 | #6,247 | under 5 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 5 | #3,951 | |
| 1965 | 12 | #3,733 | under 5 | |
| 1964 | 10 | #4,354 | 5 | #4,041 |
| 1962 | 7 | #5,293 | 7 | #3,305 |
| 1961 | 14 | #3,459 | under 5 | |
| 1960 | 13 | #3,511 | under 5 | |
| 1959 | 8 | #4,624 | under 5 | |
| 1958 | 12 | #3,542 | under 5 | |
| 1957 | 11 | #3,697 | under 5 | |
| 1956 | 14 | #3,186 | under 5 | |
| 1955 | 13 | #3,224 | under 5 | |
| 1954 | 6 | #5,146 | under 5 | |
| 1953 | 15 | #2,812 | under 5 | |
| 1952 | 13 | #3,039 | under 5 | |
| 1951 | 8 | #4,011 | under 5 | |
| 1950 | 10 | #3,423 | under 5 | |
| 1949 | 8 | #3,892 | under 5 | |
| 1948 | 13 | #2,827 | under 5 | |
| 1947 | 11 | #3,239 | under 5 | |
| 1946 | 14 | #2,596 | under 5 | |
| 1945 | 9 | #3,131 | under 5 | |
| 1944 | 6 | #4,053 | 5 | #3,430 |
| 1943 | 9 | #3,248 | under 5 | |
| 1942 | 6 | #4,124 | under 5 | |
| 1941 | 7 | #3,558 | under 5 | |
| 1940 | 5 | #4,349 | under 5 | |
| 1939 | 16 | #2,038 | under 5 | |
| 1938 | 13 | #2,340 | under 5 | |
| 1937 | 5 | #4,255 | under 5 | |
| 1936 | 17 | #1,873 | under 5 | |
| 1935 | 14 | #2,205 | under 5 | |
| 1934 | 8 | #3,157 | under 5 | |
| 1933 | 9 | #2,867 | under 5 | |
| 1932 | 7 | #3,566 | 5 | #3,775 |
| 1931 | 11 | #2,579 | under 5 | |
| 1930 | 17 | #2,022 | 6 | #3,594 |
| 1929 | 9 | #3,135 | under 5 | |
| 1928 | 13 | #2,496 | under 5 | |
| 1927 | 20 | #1,934 | under 5 | |
| 1926 | 20 | #1,931 | under 5 | |
| 1925 | 22 | #1,846 | under 5 | |
| 1924 | 15 | #2,409 | under 5 | |
| 1923 | 25 | #1,672 | under 5 | |
| 1922 | 23 | #1,785 | under 5 | |
| 1921 | 26 | #1,668 | under 5 | |
| 1920 | 21 | #1,889 | 6 | #3,816 |
| 1919 | 18 | #1,989 | under 5 | |
| 1918 | 27 | #1,537 | 5 | #4,183 |
| 1917 | 23 | #1,605 | under 5 | |
| 1916 | 24 | #1,533 | under 5 | |
| 1915 | 20 | #1,673 | under 5 | |
| 1914 | 15 | #1,740 | 5 | #3,266 |
| 1913 | 15 | #1,529 | under 5 | |
| 1912 | 10 | #1,843 | under 5 | |
| 1911 | 8 | #1,792 | under 5 | |
| 1910 | 10 | #1,521 | under 5 | |
| 1908 | 9 | #1,439 | under 5 | |
| 1907 | 5 | #2,062 | under 5 | |
| 1905 | 10 | #1,237 | under 5 | |
| 1904 | 7 | #1,485 | under 5 | |
| 1903 | 11 | #1,076 | under 5 | |
| 1900 | 8 | #1,430 | under 5 | |
| 1898 | 10 | #1,098 | under 5 | |
| 1896 | 5 | #1,582 | under 5 | |
| 1895 | 11 | #986 | under 5 | |
| 1893 | 5 | #1,437 | under 5 | |
| 1888 | 5 | #1,276 | under 5 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Adel a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 3,002 Americans recorded as Adel, 50% are girls and 50% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Adel: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Adel, and how old are they?
2,320 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 77% of the 3,002 Americans ever recorded as Adel. The median Adel alive today is 21 years old; half are between 11 and 36.
The 2020 Census counted 6,282 people named Adel (1,292 women and girls, 4,990 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,074 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3.0 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 52 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 163 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 167 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 411 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 791 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 731 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Adel born?
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 6 | not ranked | 0.9× |
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Adel with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 9,780 babies since 1880, Adel is the second most given (31% of them). In 2025 it was given to 53 of their 408 babies (13%), the third most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Adel
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1880-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas | 87,085 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Adel and names like it
- Compare Adel and AdielBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sAdel peaked in 2006.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Adel since 1910.
- The top names of 2006The year the most babies were named Adel.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Adel alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with AMost given first.