Bell
A feminine name derived from the daughter of 13th-century bell founders.
Name Census estimates that about 273 living Americans carry the first name Bell. It is a predominantly female name (95.0% of registrations). The average person named Bell today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bell births was 1900 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bell. 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
- • Although Bell is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 130 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
273
~ 1 in 1,255,510 Americans
Peak year
1900
63 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1993 SSA rank
#8,830
Tracked since 1880
Census
Bell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,088 people with the first name Bell, which placed it at #11,678 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
#11,678
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,088 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bell is White at 44.9%. The next largest groups are Black (23.3%) and Hispanic (15.5%). 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 Bell 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 Bell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.9% · 489
- Black or African American23.3% · 254
- Hispanic or Latino15.5% · 169
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.8% · 118
- Two or more races3.9% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 16
Gender
Gender distribution for Bell
Bell leans heavily female at 95.0% of total registrations, but 130 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bell as a male name
- Ranked #8,830 in 1993
- 5 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1915 (13 births)
Bell as a female name
- Ranked #13,685 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1900 (63 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bell on both sides of the split. Of the 1,082 people counted with this name, 246 were male (22.7%) and 836 were female (77.3%).
Popularity
Bell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bell from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1890s, with 511 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1890s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bell 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 Bell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Bell, while Texas, Kentucky, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bell
The given name Bell has its origins in the Old English word "belle", which was derived from the Latin word "bella", meaning beautiful or fair. The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages in England and other parts of Europe.
In the late 12th century, the name Bell appeared in the medieval romance "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", where it was used as a nickname for a beautiful lady. This literary reference contributed to the name's association with beauty and grace.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Bell as a given name was in the 13th century, when a woman named Bell de Calveley was mentioned in the Cheshire County records in England. Around the same time, a Benedictine nun named Bell de Whiteby was known for her piety and devotion.
During the Renaissance period, the name gained further popularity due to its association with the Italian word "bella", which means beautiful. The name was frequently used in literature and art to describe beautiful women, such as the character Bella Donna in the play "The Duchess of Malfi" by John Webster.
Notable historical figures with the given name Bell include:
1. Bell Scott (1904-1994), an American artist and activist known for her work in the Harlem Renaissance.
2. Bell Hooks (1952-2021), an American author, feminist, and social activist who wrote extensively about race, gender, and class.
3. Bell Burnell (born 1943), a British astrophysicist who was the first to discover pulsars and contribute significantly to the field of radio astronomy.
4. Bell Gwawu (born 1981), a Zimbabwean model and beauty queen who won the Miss Zimbabwe title in 2001.
5. Bell Muller (1822-1888), a British-Australian philanthropist and social reformer who established the Sydney Infirmary and Dispensary.
In various cultures, the name Bell has been associated with beauty, grace, and femininity, reflecting its linguistic roots and historical usage. Despite its ancient origins, the name continues to be popular in modern times, carrying with it a rich cultural heritage.
People
Bell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bell as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 273 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bell 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 1,255,510 US residents.
Is Bell a common name?
We classify Bell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,618 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bell most popular?
The single biggest year for Bell was 1900, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bell is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,088 people with the name Bell, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,678 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 Bell 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 Bell?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bell on both sides of the split. Of the 1,082 people counted with this name, 246 were male (22.7%) and 836 were female (77.3%). 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 Bell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bell is White at 44.9%. The next largest groups are Black (23.3%) and Hispanic (15.5%). 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 Bell most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.9% (489 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 Bell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bell a female name?
Yes, 95.0% of people registered as Bell 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 Bell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bell 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 Bell 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 named Bell?
Find out how many people share the name Bell on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.