Recorded 1896–2020 · United States
Wardell was most popular in 1950, when 87 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,649 that year. It was not recorded in 2025. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 4,326 people named Wardell.
Wardell first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1896, which makes it about 129 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 115 of the 130 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 4,326 American births named Wardell 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 2,191 are estimated to be alive today.
Wardell was not recorded in 2025. The SSA withholds any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so fewer than five American babies were given it.
Wardell is out of use. It averaged 7 births a year a decade ago and has not been recorded in the last five years.
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 Wardell is a boy’s name — 0.8% of the 4,326 Americans given it were girls and 99.2% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% 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 2,191 Americans named Wardell are alive today — 51% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 64 years old, and half are between 48 and 74.
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.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Wardell on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org