Russel
Russel was given to 27 boys in 2025, #4,019 among boys’ names; 16,622 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 6,750 Americans named Russel and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (41% of everyone recorded); the median is 58 years old and half are between 42 and 70.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Russel by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Russel mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Russel is “a male given name transferred from the surname.”
/ˈɹʌsəl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Russel?
#4,019 among boys’ names, 2025
Russel rose from #4,859 in 2015 to #4,019 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 10.4 to 15.8 per million.
394 babies in 1920, the peak
Russel peaked in 1920, when 394 babies were given it (389 boys, #283 among boys’ names). The 27 births of 2025 are 7% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 27 | #4,019 | 0.02 |
| 2024 | 23 | #4,536 | 0.01 |
| 2023 | 14 | #6,444 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 22 | #4,668 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 25 | #4,208 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 28 | #3,792 | 0.02 |
| 2019 | 30 | #3,699 | 0.02 |
| 2018 | 30 | #3,682 | 0.02 |
| 2017 | 30 | #3,652 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 20 | #4,909 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (145)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 20 | #4,859 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 18 | #5,217 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 27 | #3,838 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 27 | #3,866 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 20 | #4,791 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 39 | #3,000 | 0.02 |
| 2009 | 31 | #3,532 | 0.02 |
| 2008 | 30 | #3,630 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 29 | #3,672 | 0.01 |
| 2006 | 40 | #2,869 | 0.02 |
| 2005 | 35 | #2,999 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 33 | #3,057 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 37 | #2,715 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 47 | #2,239 | 0.02 |
| 2001 | 37 | #2,602 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 36 | #2,607 | 0.02 |
| 1999 | 29 | #2,920 | 0.02 |
| 1998 | 49 | #1,982 | 0.03 |
| 1997 | 45 | #2,014 | 0.02 |
| 1996 | 48 | #1,895 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 53 | #1,697 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 60 | #1,549 | 0.03 |
| 1993 | 54 | #1,654 | 0.03 |
| 1992 | 56 | #1,589 | 0.03 |
| 1991 | 75 | #1,298 | 0.04 |
| 1990 | 81 | #1,219 | 0.04 |
| 1989 | 88 | #1,134 | 0.04 |
| 1988 | 64 | #1,290 | 0.03 |
| 1987 | 85 | #1,038 | 0.05 |
| 1986 | 81 | #1,036 | 0.04 |
| 1985 | 73 | #1,088 | 0.04 |
| 1984 | 97 | #890 | 0.05 |
| 1983 | 82 | #978 | 0.05 |
| 1982 | 117 | #822 | 0.06 |
| 1981 | 107 | #857 | 0.06 |
| 1980 | 120 | #803 | 0.07 |
| 1979 | 101 | #868 | 0.06 |
| 1978 | 94 | #889 | 0.06 |
| 1977 | 86 | #917 | 0.05 |
| 1976 | 98 | #844 | 0.06 |
| 1975 | 126 | #745 | 0.08 |
| 1974 | 101 | #800 | 0.06 |
| 1973 | 130 | #706 | 0.08 |
| 1972 | 113 | #749 | 0.07 |
| 1971 | 176 | #625 | 0.10 |
| 1970 | 143 | #694 | 0.08 |
| 1969 | 167 | #608 | 0.09 |
| 1968 | 162 | #596 | 0.09 |
| 1967 | 154 | #603 | 0.09 |
| 1966 | 142 | #622 | 0.08 |
| 1965 | 151 | #620 | 0.08 |
| 1964 | 148 | #641 | 0.07 |
| 1963 | 195 | #566 | 0.10 |
| 1962 | 201 | #556 | 0.10 |
| 1961 | 191 | #569 | 0.09 |
| 1960 | 218 | #537 | 0.10 |
| 1959 | 194 | #558 | 0.09 |
| 1958 | 175 | #584 | 0.08 |
| 1957 | 199 | #546 | 0.09 |
| 1956 | 206 | #521 | 0.10 |
| 1955 | 186 | #544 | 0.09 |
| 1954 | 168 | #567 | 0.08 |
| 1953 | 159 | #565 | 0.08 |
| 1952 | 175 | #530 | 0.09 |
| 1951 | 181 | #503 | 0.10 |
| 1950 | 159 | #542 | 0.09 |
| 1949 | 177 | #500 | 0.10 |
| 1948 | 201 | #473 | 0.11 |
| 1947 | 202 | #475 | 0.11 |
| 1946 | 183 | #476 | 0.11 |
| 1945 | 177 | #447 | 0.13 |
| 1944 | 166 | #472 | 0.12 |
| 1943 | 172 | #472 | 0.12 |
| 1942 | 160 | #484 | 0.12 |
| 1941 | 151 | #479 | 0.12 |
| 1940 | 152 | #469 | 0.13 |
| 1939 | 141 | #484 | 0.13 |
| 1938 | 170 | #444 | 0.15 |
| 1937 | 183 | #420 | 0.17 |
| 1936 | 174 | #424 | 0.17 |
| 1935 | 167 | #441 | 0.16 |
| 1934 | 175 | #425 | 0.17 |
| 1933 | 199 | #385 | 0.20 |
| 1932 | 215 | #383 | 0.21 |
| 1931 | 186 | #414 | 0.18 |
| 1930 | 225 | #379 | 0.21 |
| 1929 | 259 | #350 | 0.24 |
| 1928 | 281 | #336 | 0.25 |
| 1927 | 305 | #328 | 0.27 |
| 1926 | 329 | #312 | 0.30 |
| 1925 | 340 | #309 | 0.30 |
| 1924 | 327 | #321 | 0.29 |
| 1923 | 349 | #302 | 0.32 |
| 1922 | 325 | #319 | 0.30 |
| 1921 | 384 | #286 | 0.35 |
| 1920 | 389 | #283 | 0.37 |
| 1919 | 318 | #310 | 0.32 |
| 1918 | 305 | #326 | 0.30 |
| 1917 | 305 | #303 | 0.33 |
| 1916 | 274 | #317 | 0.31 |
| 1915 | 305 | #285 | 0.36 |
| 1914 | 216 | #308 | 0.33 |
| 1913 | 196 | #283 | 0.38 |
| 1912 | 142 | #305 | 0.33 |
| 1911 | 70 | #326 | 0.31 |
| 1910 | 50 | #363 | 0.26 |
| 1909 | 39 | #395 | 0.24 |
| 1908 | 41 | #358 | 0.27 |
| 1907 | 38 | #364 | 0.26 |
| 1906 | 38 | #340 | 0.29 |
| 1905 | 29 | #402 | 0.22 |
| 1904 | 29 | #388 | 0.23 |
| 1903 | 33 | #339 | 0.28 |
| 1902 | 31 | #359 | 0.25 |
| 1901 | 28 | #350 | 0.26 |
| 1900 | 46 | #311 | 0.31 |
| 1899 | 27 | #353 | 0.25 |
| 1898 | 29 | #363 | 0.24 |
| 1897 | 20 | #434 | 0.18 |
| 1896 | 26 | #387 | 0.22 |
| 1895 | 18 | #487 | 0.15 |
| 1894 | 26 | #364 | 0.22 |
| 1893 | 19 | #430 | 0.17 |
| 1892 | 20 | #441 | 0.16 |
| 1891 | 22 | #372 | 0.22 |
| 1890 | 15 | #506 | 0.14 |
| 1889 | 11 | #621 | 0.10 |
| 1888 | 12 | #603 | 0.10 |
| 1887 | 8 | #737 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 9 | #686 | 0.08 |
| 1885 | 5 | #1,074 | 0.05 |
| 1884 | 5 | #1,100 | 0.04 |
| 1882 | 5 | #1,069 | 0.04 |
| 1881 | 10 | #584 | 0.10 |
| 1880 | 8 | #735 | 0.07 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Russel a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Russel has been given almost only to boys: 12 girls in 145 years of records.
Girls and boys named Russel: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Russel, and how old are they?
6,750 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 41% of the 16,622 Americans ever recorded as Russel. The median Russel alive today is 58 years old; half are between 42 and 70.
The 2020 Census counted 10,399 people named Russel (115 women and girls, 10,284 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 7,605 born in the U.S. The Census count is 37% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Russel rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 587 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 2,320 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,810 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,160 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 554 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 312 |
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 Russel born?
The states with the most babies named Russel are Pennsylvania, Ohio and California, with 33% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 1,740 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Ohio | 917 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| California | 876 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 849 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 807 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| New York | 587 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Texas | 488 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Wisconsin | 475 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Louisiana | 474 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Indiana | 445 | not ranked | 1.1× |
Where Russel is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Russel is most over-represented in Pennsylvania: since 1910 it was given 1.6 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 Russel 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 378,159 babies since 1880, Russel is the second most given (4.4% of them). In 2025 it was given to 27 of their 971 babies (2.8%), again the second most given.
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 Russel
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 Russel and names like it
- Compare Russel and RussellBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sRussel peaked in 1920.
- Pennsylvania’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Russel since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Russel: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1920The year the most babies were named Russel.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Russel alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with RMost given first.