Hershell — boys' name

What the Data Says About Hershell

The Social Security Administration has registered 1,847 babies named Hershell between 1899 and 1994, spanning 96 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Hershell currently falls outside the top 1,000 boys' names for 1994. The name reached its historical peak in 1920, when 45 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Hershell performed strongest in the 1920s, accumulating 380 births during that ten-year window. Across the 11 decades of recorded activity, Hershell shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in Kentucky, which accounts for 137 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Tennessee and Texas. In total, SSA state-level files list Hershell in 8 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Hershell 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 1,847 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.