Murl
Murl was last recorded in 1983, when 5 babies were given it; 2,567 Americans have been recorded with it between 1885 and 1983 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Murl by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Murl?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #6,967, in 1983; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
84 babies in 1924, the peak
Murl peaked in 1924, when 84 babies were given it (65 boys, #855 among boys’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | under 5 | 5 | #6,967 | |
| 1980 | under 5 | 6 | #6,001 | |
| 1978 | under 5 | 5 | #6,460 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 6 | #5,618 | |
| 1974 | under 5 | 7 | #4,469 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 6 | #4,896 | |
| 1971 | under 5 | 5 | #5,418 | |
| 1970 | under 5 | 5 | #5,214 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 8 | #3,496 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 8 | #3,285 |
Every recorded year (88)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | under 5 | 7 | #3,451 | |
| 1965 | under 5 | 7 | #3,456 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 13 | #2,381 | |
| 1963 | under 5 | 17 | #2,015 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 8 | #3,225 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 14 | #2,302 | |
| 1960 | under 5 | 12 | #2,500 | |
| 1959 | under 5 | 14 | #2,266 | |
| 1958 | 6 | #5,902 | 19 | #1,874 |
| 1957 | under 5 | 20 | #1,822 | |
| 1956 | under 5 | 16 | #2,066 | |
| 1955 | under 5 | 13 | #2,281 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 20 | #1,743 | |
| 1953 | under 5 | 17 | #1,940 | |
| 1952 | 5 | #6,150 | 23 | #1,604 |
| 1951 | under 5 | 13 | #2,214 | |
| 1950 | under 5 | 30 | #1,332 | |
| 1949 | under 5 | 15 | #2,001 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 18 | #1,797 | |
| 1947 | 8 | #4,238 | 38 | #1,185 |
| 1946 | 11 | #3,162 | 19 | #1,678 |
| 1945 | under 5 | 35 | #1,114 | |
| 1944 | under 5 | 25 | #1,354 | |
| 1943 | under 5 | 26 | #1,391 | |
| 1942 | 6 | #4,486 | 32 | #1,240 |
| 1941 | 6 | #4,286 | 28 | #1,268 |
| 1940 | 5 | #4,842 | 30 | #1,242 |
| 1939 | 6 | #4,113 | 36 | #1,079 |
| 1938 | 11 | #2,689 | 35 | #1,104 |
| 1937 | 6 | #4,126 | 27 | #1,304 |
| 1936 | 10 | #2,804 | 34 | #1,134 |
| 1935 | 16 | #2,075 | 29 | #1,268 |
| 1934 | 8 | #3,377 | 37 | #1,088 |
| 1933 | 6 | #4,079 | 34 | #1,140 |
| 1932 | 12 | #2,597 | 42 | #1,033 |
| 1931 | 9 | #3,154 | 41 | #1,059 |
| 1930 | 24 | #1,644 | 47 | #1,000 |
| 1929 | 20 | #1,873 | 33 | #1,231 |
| 1928 | 20 | #1,946 | 46 | #1,027 |
| 1927 | 26 | #1,658 | 58 | #896 |
| 1926 | 19 | #2,052 | 50 | #975 |
| 1925 | 16 | #2,356 | 52 | #939 |
| 1924 | 19 | #2,109 | 65 | #855 |
| 1923 | 16 | #2,339 | 43 | #1,097 |
| 1922 | 21 | #1,944 | 55 | #943 |
| 1921 | 15 | #2,467 | 57 | #935 |
| 1920 | 29 | #1,537 | 52 | #963 |
| 1919 | 13 | #2,604 | 65 | #816 |
| 1918 | 29 | #1,486 | 53 | #915 |
| 1917 | 19 | #1,897 | 42 | #1,013 |
| 1916 | 22 | #1,667 | 59 | #806 |
| 1915 | 24 | #1,509 | 50 | #874 |
| 1914 | 17 | #1,645 | 35 | #945 |
| 1913 | 17 | #1,450 | 26 | #986 |
| 1912 | 11 | #1,797 | 21 | #1,015 |
| 1911 | 5 | #2,744 | 9 | #1,255 |
| 1910 | 9 | #1,724 | 5 | #1,770 |
| 1909 | 7 | #1,903 | 10 | #1,000 |
| 1908 | 9 | #1,511 | 8 | #1,091 |
| 1907 | 9 | #1,475 | 5 | #1,480 |
| 1906 | 7 | #1,671 | 6 | #1,205 |
| 1905 | 8 | #1,500 | 9 | #896 |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,799 | 6 | #1,163 |
| 1903 | 12 | #1,063 | 5 | #1,248 |
| 1902 | under 5 | 5 | #1,255 | |
| 1901 | under 5 | 8 | #829 | |
| 1900 | under 5 | 6 | #1,267 | |
| 1899 | under 5 | 5 | #1,154 | |
| 1898 | under 5 | 9 | #787 | |
| 1897 | 7 | #1,351 | 5 | #1,175 |
| 1896 | 6 | #1,529 | under 5 | |
| 1895 | 6 | #1,541 | under 5 | |
| 1894 | 12 | #935 | 7 | #923 |
| 1893 | under 5 | 7 | #888 | |
| 1891 | 5 | #1,472 | 7 | #819 |
| 1890 | 5 | #1,472 | under 5 | |
| 1886 | under 5 | 5 | #1,062 | |
| 1885 | 5 | #1,155 | 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 Murl a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 2,567 Americans recorded as Murl, 24% are girls and 76% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Murl: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Murl, and how old are they?
An estimated 447 Americans named Murl and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (17% of everyone recorded); the median is 75 years old and half are between 66 and 83. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 654 people named Murl (113 women and girls, 541 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 632 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% above that prediction.
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 Murl born?
The states with the most babies named Murl are Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas, with 69% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Oklahoma and Missouri are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oklahoma | 115 | not ranked | 2.4× |
| Missouri | 85 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Texas | 71 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Kentucky | 34 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Arkansas | 25 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Indiana | 21 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Ohio | 11 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| West Virginia | 10 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Illinois | 7 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Iowa | 5 | not ranked | 0.1× |
Where Murl is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Murl is most over-represented in Oklahoma: since 1910 it was given 2.4 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 Murl 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 3 names spelled alike, given to 4,202 babies since 1880, Murl is the most given (61% of them).
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 Murl
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 Murl and names like it
- Compare Murl and MurrelBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sMurl peaked in 1924.
- Oklahoma’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Murl since 1910.
- The top names of 1924The year the most babies were named Murl.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Murl alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with MMost given first.