Adele
A feminine name of French origin meaning "noble" or "nobility".
Name Census estimates that about 16,292 living Americans carry the first name Adele. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Adele today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adele births was 1918 (1,036 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adele. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Adele with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
16K
~ 1 in 21,038 Americans
Peak year
1918
1,036 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1918 SSA rank
#798
Tracked since 1880
Census
Adele in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 19,906 people with the first name Adele, which placed it at #1,606 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,606
National first-name rank
People counted
20K
19,906 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Adele
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adele is White at 77.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.4%) and Black (7.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Adele described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Adele at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.7% · 15,462
- Hispanic or Latino8.4% · 1,663
- Black or African American7.2% · 1,436
- Two or more races3.3% · 653
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 580
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 112
Gender
Gender distribution for Adele
Out of the 42,007 babies given the name Adele since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Adele as a male name
- Ranked #3,731 in 1918
- 6 male births in 1918
- Peak: 1918 (6 births)
Adele as a female name
- Ranked #798 in 2024
- 351 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (1,030 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Adele appears almost entirely female. Of the 19,901 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Adele: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adele from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 7,660 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adele by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Adele during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Adeles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Adele, while West Virginia, South Dakota, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 681 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Adele
The name Adele has its origins in the Germanic language, derived from the root word "adal," meaning noble or noble birth. It emerged as a given name during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions of Europe with German cultural influence.
The earliest recorded use of the name Adele dates back to the 8th century, when it appeared in Frankish chronicles and records. The name gained popularity in medieval Germany, often bestowed upon women of noble lineage or high social standing.
In the Christian tradition, the name Adele was sometimes associated with the biblical figure of Adah, one of the wives of Lamech mentioned in the Book of Genesis. However, the direct connection between the two names is uncertain, and the name Adele is more firmly rooted in its Germanic origins.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Adele. One of the earliest examples is Adele of Pfalzel, a Frankish noblewoman born around 630 CE, who later became a revered saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
In the 11th century, Adele of Blois (1003-1063) was a countess and regent of the County of Blois in France. She played a significant role in the political affairs of her time and was known for her diplomatic abilities.
During the Renaissance, Adele Curti (1455-1510) was an Italian scholar and writer, renowned for her works on theology and philosophy. She was highly educated and respected in the intellectual circles of her era.
In the 19th century, Adele Spitzeder (1832-1895) was a prominent German businesswoman and philanthropist. She founded one of the largest department stores in Munich and was known for her charitable contributions to various causes.
Another famous Adele was Adele Sandrock (1880-1965), a German silent film actress who starred in numerous films during the early 20th century. She was a celebrated performer of her time and helped pave the way for women in the emerging film industry.
These are just a few examples of the notable women throughout history who have borne the name Adele, reflecting its enduring presence and the diverse backgrounds of those who have carried this name over the centuries.
People
Adele + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adele as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Adele: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adele?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16,292 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adele going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 21,038 US residents.
Is Adele a common name?
We classify Adele as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 42,007 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adele most popular?
The single biggest year for Adele was 1918, when 1,036 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adele is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Adele in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 19,906 people with the name Adele, or 6.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,606 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Adele in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Adele?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Adele appears almost entirely female. Of the 19,901 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Adele?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adele is White at 77.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.4%) and Black (7.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Adele most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Adele in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.7% (15,462 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Adele in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Adele a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Adele in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Adele still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Adele in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Adele can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Adele?
You can see how many people share the name Adele on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.