Girls' name · since 1880
Adele
42,362 babies named Adele in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1918. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
- #669 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #751 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 42,362
- born since 1880
- 1920s
- peak decade
Yes -- Adele is the #751 most popular girls' name in the U.S. today, with 42,362 recorded since 1880.
Social Security Administration records show Adele recorded 42,362 times among girls since 1880, holding rank #751 nationally today, ahead of 96% of girls, peaking in the 1920s. This profile derives year-by-year birth trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.
- #669 of 72,339 all-time among girls
- #751 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
- 42,362 born since 1880
- 1920s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Adele ranks #669 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #751 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 42,362 born since 1880, peaking in the 1920s.
- #669 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #751 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 42,362
- born since 1880
- 1920s
- peak decade
Adele's 42,362 recorded births place it above 99.07% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.
47 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by New York.
How Adele compares
42,362 Top 4% higher than 96% of 17,297 names currently given to girls
Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.
Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data
How the numbers stack up
Adele's all-time total is 113x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Adele | Median girls name (Kyann) | #1 girls name (Olivia) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 42,362 | 376 | 567,345 |
| Peak-year births | 1,030 | 21 | 19,840 |
Adele's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Adele splits its recorded history at 1953: 34% of all births land in the more recent half, 66% in the earlier half, leaning more toward its earlier era than today's. The single quietest year was 1880 (41 births) -- compare that against the 1918 peak of 1,030 for a sense of just how much the name's popularity has swung.
Adele popularity over time - girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025
- Peak year (1918)
- 1,030
- Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
Adele popularity over time - boys
11 total births recorded since 1908 (Adele as boys' name)
Adele by decade
1920s is the heaviest window (7,660 births, 18% of the file).
1920s was Adele's strongest decade.
7,660 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 18% of all-time use.
Adele births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 1880s 748
1880s
748 births
- 1890s 1,498
1890s
1,498 births
- 1900s 1,881
1900s
1,881 births
- 1910s
1910s
6,880 births
- 1920s
1920s
7,660 births
- 1930s
1930s
4,076 births
- 1940s
1940s
3,763 births
- 1950s
1950s
3,863 births
- 1960s 1,892
1960s
1,892 births
- 1970s 1,006
1970s
1,006 births
- 1980s 846
1980s
846 births
- 1990s 870
1990s
870 births
- 2000s 1,281
2000s
1,281 births
- 2010s
2010s
4,021 births
- 2020s 2,077
2020s
2,077 births
What this shows Peak: 1920s at 7,660 births (18% of all-time use).
How Adele compares to similarly-sized names
Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Adele's total volume
Adele by state
Where Adele concentrates geographically, total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | New York | | 8,563 | 20.2% |
| #2 | Pennsylvania | | 3,146 | 7.4% |
| #3 | California | | 2,933 | 6.9% |
| #4 | New Jersey | | 2,678 | 6.3% |
| #5 | Illinois | | 2,109 | 5.0% |
| #6 | Massachusetts | | 1,562 | 3.7% |
| #7 | Ohio | | 1,246 | 2.9% |
| #8 | Texas | | 1,125 | 2.7% |
8,563 of 42,362 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 47 reporting states.
Adele appears in 47 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
How popular is the name Adele? ▼
Where does Adele sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
When was Adele most popular? ▼
Where is Adele most popular? ▼
How long has the name Adele been used? ▼
What names are similar to Adele? ▼
What to do with Adele's data
- Adele's decade-level peak was the 1920s (7,660 total births); usage has since declined to 2,077 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
- New York records the most Adeles (8,563 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. New York names
Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.
Keep exploring Adele
Nearby Names Like Adele
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Adele
Compare Adele side by side: Adele vs Adeline Adele vs Adelaide Adele vs Adelyn
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Adele
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Adele: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~1918)
Similar record span (~145 yrs)
Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.
Data Sources
Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).
Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Adele draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.