Powell
Powell was given to 9 boys in 2025, #8,747 among boys’ names; 1,491 Americans have been recorded with it since 1883 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Powell by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Powell mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Powell is “a male given name.” Its etymology gives the sense “son of Hywel” (Hywel).
The anglicized form of Welsh ap Hywel (“son of Hywel”). Related to Howell and Huell. Sometimes also associated with Paul by folk etymology.
/ˈpaʊ.(w)əl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Powell?
#8,747 among boys’ names, 2025
Powell rose from #10,344 in 2015 to #8,747 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 3.7 to 5.3 per million.
32 babies in 1919, the peak
Powell peaked in 1919, when 32 boys were given it, #1,258 among boys’ names. The 9 births of 2025 are 28% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9 | #8,747 | 5.3 |
| 2024 | 10 | #8,169 | 5.8 |
| 2023 | 11 | #7,621 | 6.4 |
| 2022 | 12 | #7,134 | 6.9 |
| 2021 | 10 | #8,007 | 5.7 |
| 2020 | 7 | #10,322 | 4.1 |
| 2019 | 5 | #13,633 | 2.8 |
| 2018 | 8 | #9,442 | 4.4 |
| 2017 | 14 | #6,256 | 7.6 |
| 2016 | 11 | #7,481 | 5.8 |
Every recorded year (121)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 7 | #10,344 | 3.7 |
| 2014 | 10 | #7,976 | 5.2 |
| 2013 | 10 | #7,949 | 5.3 |
| 2012 | 6 | #11,896 | 3.2 |
| 2011 | 6 | #11,897 | 3.2 |
| 2010 | 10 | #7,976 | 5.2 |
| 2009 | 10 | #8,143 | 5.0 |
| 2008 | 10 | #8,138 | 4.9 |
| 2007 | 11 | #7,458 | 5.3 |
| 2006 | 7 | #10,372 | 3.4 |
| 2005 | 9 | #8,131 | 4.5 |
| 2004 | 5 | #12,738 | 2.5 |
| 2003 | 5 | #12,261 | 2.5 |
| 2002 | 8 | #8,243 | 4.1 |
| 2001 | 10 | #6,797 | 5.1 |
| 2000 | 14 | #5,240 | 7.1 |
| 1999 | 10 | #6,384 | 5.2 |
| 1998 | 7 | #8,220 | 3.7 |
| 1996 | 9 | #6,358 | 4.8 |
| 1995 | 14 | #4,443 | 7.4 |
| 1994 | 9 | #6,214 | 4.7 |
| 1991 | 10 | #5,400 | 4.9 |
| 1990 | 10 | #5,274 | 4.9 |
| 1989 | 11 | #4,732 | 5.5 |
| 1988 | 5 | #8,197 | 2.6 |
| 1987 | 5 | #7,829 | 2.7 |
| 1985 | 6 | #6,316 | 3.2 |
| 1984 | 9 | #4,455 | 5.0 |
| 1982 | 8 | #4,891 | 4.4 |
| 1981 | 12 | #3,559 | 6.7 |
| 1978 | 6 | #5,589 | 3.7 |
| 1977 | 5 | #6,598 | 3.0 |
| 1975 | 5 | #6,082 | 3.2 |
| 1974 | 5 | #5,795 | 3.2 |
| 1973 | 5 | #5,682 | 3.2 |
| 1972 | 7 | #4,325 | 4.3 |
| 1970 | 5 | #5,258 | 2.7 |
| 1969 | 7 | #3,844 | 3.9 |
| 1968 | 14 | #2,279 | 8.1 |
| 1967 | 11 | #2,576 | 6.3 |
| 1966 | 10 | #2,743 | 5.6 |
| 1965 | 13 | #2,344 | 7.0 |
| 1964 | 7 | #3,526 | 3.5 |
| 1963 | 15 | #2,180 | 7.4 |
| 1962 | 17 | #2,014 | 8.2 |
| 1961 | 10 | #2,849 | 4.7 |
| 1960 | 14 | #2,290 | 6.6 |
| 1959 | 12 | #2,503 | 5.6 |
| 1958 | 19 | #1,880 | 9.0 |
| 1957 | 9 | #2,972 | 4.2 |
| 1956 | 10 | #2,750 | 4.7 |
| 1955 | 15 | #2,114 | 7.3 |
| 1954 | 13 | #2,289 | 6.4 |
| 1953 | 14 | #2,164 | 7.1 |
| 1952 | 15 | #2,055 | 7.7 |
| 1951 | 13 | #2,223 | 6.9 |
| 1950 | 15 | #2,005 | 8.4 |
| 1949 | 13 | #2,197 | 7.3 |
| 1948 | 16 | #1,929 | 9.1 |
| 1947 | 20 | #1,721 | 10.9 |
| 1946 | 19 | #1,679 | 11.7 |
| 1945 | 22 | #1,432 | 16.3 |
| 1944 | 16 | #1,797 | 11.7 |
| 1943 | 8 | #2,914 | 5.6 |
| 1942 | 21 | #1,579 | 15.2 |
| 1941 | 23 | #1,440 | 18.7 |
| 1940 | 19 | #1,612 | 16.4 |
| 1939 | 22 | #1,451 | 19.9 |
| 1938 | 21 | #1,513 | 18.9 |
| 1937 | 14 | #1,972 | 13.1 |
| 1936 | 19 | #1,579 | 18.3 |
| 1935 | 16 | #1,819 | 15.4 |
| 1934 | 16 | #1,839 | 15.5 |
| 1933 | 22 | #1,492 | 22.2 |
| 1932 | 20 | #1,636 | 19.2 |
| 1931 | 22 | #1,526 | 21.2 |
| 1930 | 21 | #1,639 | 19.1 |
| 1929 | 19 | #1,777 | 17.7 |
| 1928 | 24 | #1,555 | 21.7 |
| 1927 | 15 | #2,174 | 13.3 |
| 1926 | 18 | #1,895 | 16.2 |
| 1925 | 28 | #1,415 | 25.1 |
| 1924 | 24 | #1,619 | 21.2 |
| 1923 | 15 | #2,203 | 13.7 |
| 1922 | 22 | #1,684 | 20.2 |
| 1921 | 24 | #1,577 | 21.8 |
| 1920 | 19 | #1,868 | 17.9 |
| 1919 | 32 | #1,258 | 32.6 |
| 1918 | 28 | #1,366 | 27.6 |
| 1917 | 25 | #1,427 | 27.0 |
| 1916 | 11 | #2,503 | 12.4 |
| 1915 | 17 | #1,763 | 20.0 |
| 1914 | 19 | #1,432 | 29.0 |
| 1913 | 23 | #1,069 | 44.9 |
| 1912 | 10 | #1,713 | 23.3 |
| 1910 | 6 | #1,545 | 30.9 |
| 1909 | 6 | #1,413 | 36.6 |
| 1908 | 7 | #1,191 | 45.4 |
| 1907 | 7 | #1,179 | 47.7 |
| 1904 | 5 | #1,356 | 39.0 |
| 1903 | 6 | #1,102 | 50.3 |
| 1902 | 6 | #1,111 | 48.9 |
| 1901 | 6 | #1,031 | 56.4 |
| 1899 | 5 | #1,168 | 47.1 |
| 1897 | 6 | #1,033 | 53.2 |
| 1896 | 5 | #1,227 | 41.8 |
| 1892 | 5 | #1,214 | 41.0 |
| 1891 | 6 | #935 | 59.3 |
| 1890 | 5 | #1,121 | 45.0 |
| 1888 | 5 | #1,146 | 41.4 |
| 1883 | 5 | #1,013 | 47.8 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Powell a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Powell has been given almost only to boys: 6 girls in 121 years of records.
Girls and boys named Powell: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Powell, and how old are they?
An estimated 675 Americans named Powell and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (45% of everyone recorded); the median is 42 years old and half are between 18 and 68. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 811 people named Powell (81 women and girls, 730 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 706 born in the U.S. The Census count is 15% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
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).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Powell
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 Powell and names like it
- Compare Powell and RuelBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sPowell peaked in 1919.
- Georgia’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Powell since 1910.
- The top names of 1919The year the most babies were named Powell.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Powell alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with PMost given first.