Herschel — #4872 US boys' name

What the Data Says About Herschel

The Social Security Administration has registered 10,640 babies named Herschel between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Herschel currently holds the #4872 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1921, when 277 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Herschel performed strongest in the 1920s, accumulating 2,258 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Herschel shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in Indiana, which accounts for 742 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Texas and Illinois. In total, SSA state-level files list Herschel in 27 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Herschel in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 10,640 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.