Edsel
Edsel was given to 5 boys in 2025, #12,548 among boys’ names; 3,962 Americans have been recorded with it since 1914 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,360 Americans named Edsel and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (34% of everyone recorded); the median is 61 years old and half are between 36 and 74.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Edsel by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Edsel mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Edsel is “a male given name from the Germanic languages, variant of Etzel.”
Compare German Etzel.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Edsel?
#12,548 among boys’ names, 2025
Edsel fell from #8,230 in 2015 to #12,548 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 4.7 to 2.9 per million.
224 babies in 1927, the peak
Edsel peaked in 1927, when 224 boys were given it, #399 among boys’ names. The 5 births of 2025 are 2% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #12,548 | under 0.01 |
| 2024 | 6 | #11,301 | under 0.01 |
| 2023 | 6 | #11,207 | under 0.01 |
| 2022 | 7 | #10,095 | under 0.01 |
| 2021 | 11 | #7,232 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 9 | #8,246 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 5 | #12,688 | under 0.01 |
| 2018 | 15 | #5,841 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 6 | #11,138 | under 0.01 |
| 2016 | 9 | #8,330 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (110)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 9 | #8,230 | under 0.01 |
| 2014 | 5 | #12,594 | under 0.01 |
| 2013 | 12 | #6,722 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 8 | #8,973 | under 0.01 |
| 2010 | 17 | #5,311 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 12 | #6,909 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 20 | #4,767 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 12 | #6,752 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 12 | #6,335 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 11 | #6,665 | 0.01 |
| 2003 | 10 | #6,863 | 0.01 |
| 2002 | 14 | #5,203 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 12 | #5,771 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 8 | #7,644 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 8 | #7,353 | under 0.01 |
| 1998 | 10 | #5,949 | 0.01 |
| 1997 | 10 | #5,763 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 9 | #6,133 | under 0.01 |
| 1995 | 19 | #3,458 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 11 | #5,192 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 12 | #4,789 | 0.01 |
| 1992 | 13 | #4,391 | 0.01 |
| 1991 | 12 | #4,560 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 20 | #3,082 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 18 | #3,236 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 16 | #3,251 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 12 | #3,790 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 10 | #4,216 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 14 | #3,254 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 16 | #2,856 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 9 | #4,243 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 12 | #3,540 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 13 | #3,273 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 20 | #2,466 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 11 | #3,643 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 12 | #3,266 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 17 | #2,586 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 15 | #2,741 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 12 | #3,120 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 18 | #2,301 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 11 | #3,070 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 12 | #2,870 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 18 | #2,228 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 12 | #2,775 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 15 | #2,241 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 27 | #1,517 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 18 | #1,868 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 13 | #2,257 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 28 | #1,460 | 0.02 |
| 1964 | 23 | #1,668 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 31 | #1,407 | 0.02 |
| 1962 | 27 | #1,524 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 25 | #1,611 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 27 | #1,560 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 47 | #1,130 | 0.02 |
| 1958 | 56 | #1,018 | 0.03 |
| 1957 | 54 | #1,029 | 0.03 |
| 1956 | 29 | #1,455 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 37 | #1,240 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 36 | #1,248 | 0.02 |
| 1953 | 35 | #1,264 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 54 | #971 | 0.03 |
| 1951 | 52 | #976 | 0.03 |
| 1950 | 48 | #1,012 | 0.03 |
| 1949 | 37 | #1,166 | 0.02 |
| 1948 | 40 | #1,131 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 52 | #985 | 0.03 |
| 1946 | 39 | #1,114 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 39 | #1,018 | 0.03 |
| 1944 | 37 | #1,092 | 0.03 |
| 1943 | 61 | #850 | 0.04 |
| 1942 | 35 | #1,172 | 0.03 |
| 1941 | 45 | #954 | 0.04 |
| 1940 | 60 | #802 | 0.05 |
| 1939 | 45 | #935 | 0.04 |
| 1938 | 59 | #809 | 0.05 |
| 1937 | 35 | #1,101 | 0.03 |
| 1936 | 52 | #845 | 0.05 |
| 1935 | 68 | #744 | 0.07 |
| 1934 | 56 | #836 | 0.05 |
| 1933 | 71 | #724 | 0.07 |
| 1932 | 70 | #749 | 0.07 |
| 1931 | 105 | #575 | 0.10 |
| 1930 | 104 | #593 | 0.09 |
| 1929 | 98 | #611 | 0.09 |
| 1928 | 156 | #487 | 0.14 |
| 1927 | 224 | #399 | 0.20 |
| 1926 | 174 | #457 | 0.16 |
| 1925 | 173 | #459 | 0.16 |
| 1924 | 138 | #539 | 0.12 |
| 1923 | 120 | #570 | 0.11 |
| 1922 | 113 | #608 | 0.10 |
| 1921 | 72 | #800 | 0.07 |
| 1920 | 55 | #930 | 0.05 |
| 1919 | 76 | #731 | 0.08 |
| 1918 | 41 | #1,067 | 0.04 |
| 1917 | 34 | #1,153 | 0.04 |
| 1916 | 31 | #1,184 | 0.03 |
| 1915 | 17 | #1,723 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 5 | #3,384 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Edsel a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Edsel has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 110 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Edsel: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Edsel, and how old are they?
1,360 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 34% of the 3,962 Americans ever recorded as Edsel. The median Edsel alive today is 61 years old; half are between 36 and 74.
The 2020 Census counted 1,693 people named Edsel (28 women and girls, 1,665 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,612 born in the U.S. The Census count is 5% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 176 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 485 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 227 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 205 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 161 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 104 |
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 Edsel born?
The states with the most babies named Edsel are Michigan, Alabama and North Carolina, with 40% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Alabama is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 305 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Alabama | 195 | not ranked | 2.0× |
| North Carolina | 170 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| West Virginia | 162 | not ranked | 2.7× |
| Kentucky | 148 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Georgia | 117 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Tennessee | 90 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Virginia | 75 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 71 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| California | 59 | not ranked | 0.2× |
Where Edsel is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Edsel is most over-represented in West Virginia: since 1914 it was given 2.7 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
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 Edsel with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Edsel
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
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 Edsel and names like it
- Compare Edsel and JuniorBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sEdsel peaked in 1927.
- Michigan’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Edsel since 1910.
- The top names of 1927The year the most babies were named Edsel.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Edsel alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with EMost given first.