Recorded 1880–2025 · United States
Ethel was most popular in 1918, when 8,110 American babies were given the name — ranking #51 that year. In 2025 it ranked #7,270, with 34 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 280,412 people named Ethel.
The Social Security Administration’s records begin in 1880, and Ethel is already there in that first year — so the name is older than the record and these figures cannot date it. It has been recorded in 146 of the 146 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 280,412 American births named Ethel between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 37,178 are estimated to be alive today.
34 American babies were named Ethel in 2025, ranking #7,270 that year.
Ethel is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 28 births a year, against 15 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +83% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Ethel is a girl’s name — 99.5% of the 280,412 Americans given it were girls and 0.5% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 37,178 Americans named Ethel are alive today — 13% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 78 years old, and half are between 70 and 86.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
Old English · "noble"
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Ethel on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org