Ardel
Variant of the English name "Darrell," of uncertain meaning but possibly derived from French words "de" and "arel," meaning "noble."
Name Census estimates that about 39 living Americans carry the first name Ardel. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Ardel today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ardel births was 1917 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ardel. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Ardel is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ardels were born before 1960.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ardel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
39
~ 1 in 8,788,573 Americans
Peak year
1917
11 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1951 SSA rank
#3,735
Tracked since 1917
Census
Ardel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 237 people with the first name Ardel, which placed it at #34,427 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
#34,427
National first-name rank
People counted
237
237 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ardel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ardel is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.2%). 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 Ardel 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 Ardel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.2% · 138
- Black or African American20.7% · 49
- Asian and Pacific Islander12.2% · 29
- Two or more races3.4% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Ardel
Ardel is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 128 total registrations, 31 (24.2%) were male and 97 (75.8%) were female.
Ardel as a male name
- Ranked #3,735 in 1951
- 5 male births in 1951
- Peak: 1939 (6 births)
Ardel as a female name
- Ranked #6,644 in 1963
- 5 female births in 1963
- Peak: 1937 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ardel on both sides of the split. Of the 242 people counted with this name, 119 were male (49.2%) and 123 were female (50.8%).
Popularity
Ardel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ardel from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 25 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1930s peak, Ardel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ardel 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 Ardel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ardel
The name Ardel has its origins in the Old French language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to be a combination of two words – "ard" meaning "high" or "ardent," and "el," which was a common suffix used to create diminutive forms of names. Together, these components suggest a meaning along the lines of "little ardent one" or "little fiery one."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ardel can be found in a French manuscript from the 13th century, where it was used as a masculine given name. However, over time, the name seems to have transitioned to a more feminine usage, likely due to its diminutive form.
Historically, the name Ardel does not appear to have been widely popular or extensively documented. Nevertheless, there are a few notable individuals who bore this name throughout the centuries.
Ardel Kinzer (1908-1995) was an American educator and writer who authored several books on teaching methods and curriculum development. She spent much of her career as a professor at Ohio State University.
Ardel Wray (1853-1939) was a British artist and illustrator known for his detailed etchings and engravings depicting scenes from rural life in England. His work was widely acclaimed during the Victorian era.
Ardel Vigio (1929-2012) was a French fashion designer and entrepreneur who founded her own successful clothing line in the 1960s. She was known for her innovative use of bold colors and patterns.
Ardel Stembeck (1926-2003) was a Canadian politician and activist who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for several terms. She was a vocal advocate for women's rights and environmental protection.
Ardel Canestrari (1920-2010) was an Italian-American artist and sculptor who gained recognition for his large-scale public artworks, many of which can still be seen in various cities across the United States.
While the name Ardel may not have achieved widespread popularity throughout history, these individuals serve as examples of how the name has been carried forward and left its mark across various fields and cultures.
People
Ardel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ardel 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
Ardel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ardel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 39 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ardel 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 8,788,573 US residents.
Is Ardel a common name?
We classify Ardel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 50.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 128 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ardel most popular?
The single biggest year for Ardel was 1917, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ardel is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ardel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 237 people with the name Ardel, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,427 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 Ardel 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 Ardel?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ardel on both sides of the split. Of the 242 people counted with this name, 119 were male (49.2%) and 123 were female (50.8%). 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 Ardel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ardel is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (12.2%). 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 Ardel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ardel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.2% (138 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 Ardel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ardel a female name?
Yes, 75.8% of people registered as Ardel 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 Ardel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ardel 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 Ardel 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 Americans are named Ardel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.