Annel
A feminine name of French origin meaning "little Anne".
Name Census estimates that about 527 living Americans carry the first name Annel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Annel today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Annel births was 2004 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Annel. 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.
People living today
527
~ 1 in 650,388 Americans
Peak year
2004
31 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2021 SSA rank
#11,228
Tracked since 1964
Census
Annel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 816 people with the first name Annel, which placed it at #14,446 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
#14,446
National first-name rank
People counted
816
816 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
88.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Annel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Annel is Hispanic at 88.2%. The next largest groups are White (5.6%) and Black (4.9%). 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 Annel 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 Annel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino88.2% · 720
- White5.6% · 46
- Black or African American4.9% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 8
- Two or more races0.2% · 2
Popularity
Annel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Annel from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 176 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Annel 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 Annel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Annels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Annel, while New York, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 87 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Annel
The given name Annel has its origins in the ancient Germanic language, dating back to the 5th century AD. The name is derived from the Old High German word "Annal," which means "grace" or "favor." It is believed that the name was initially used as a feminine form of the masculine name "Annal."
In the early Middle Ages, the name Annel gained popularity among the Germanic tribes that settled in various regions of Europe, including present-day Germany, France, and the Netherlands. It was particularly common among the Frankish nobility and the Carolingian dynasty that ruled vast territories of Western Europe from the 6th to the 9th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Annel can be found in the Carolingian Chronicles, which document the lives and reigns of the Frankish kings and emperors. The chronicle mentions an Annel, who was the daughter of a noble Frankish family in the 8th century.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Annel was borne by several notable figures. One of the most prominent was Annel of Saxony (c. 1050 - c. 1115), a German noblewoman who played a significant role in the Investiture Controversy between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy.
Another notable bearer of the name was Annel of Burgundy (c. 1080 - c. 1125), a French countess who was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for the construction of several notable churches and monasteries in the region.
During the Renaissance period, the name Annel gained popularity in Italy, where it was often spelled as "Annella" or "Annelina." One of the most famous Italian bearers of the name was Annella Petrucci (1501 - 1547), a renowned poet and philosopher who was celebrated for her literary works and her influential salon in Siena.
In the realm of religious history, the name Annel was also borne by several notable figures. Saint Annel of Foligno (c. 1233 - 1309) was an Italian mystic and Franciscan tertiary who wrote extensively on spiritual matters and was renowned for her visions and ecstasies.
Another significant figure was Annel of Portugal (1509 - 1576), a Portuguese noblewoman who became a Carmelite nun and was later canonized by the Catholic Church for her life of piety and service to the poor.
People
Annel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Annel 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
Annel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Annel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 527 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Annel 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 650,388 US residents.
Is Annel a common name?
We classify Annel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 545 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Annel most popular?
The single biggest year for Annel was 2004, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Annel is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Annel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 816 people with the name Annel, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,446 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 Annel 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 Annel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Annel leans strongly female. 746 people counted with this name were female (91.4%), compared with 70 male bearers (8.6%). 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 Annel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Annel is Hispanic at 88.2%. The next largest groups are White (5.6%) and Black (4.9%). 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 Annel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Annel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.2% (720 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 Annel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Annel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Annel 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 Annel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Annel 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 Annel 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 share the name Annel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.