Earle
Earle is a masculine name of Old English origin meaning "brave".
Name Census estimates that about 3,076 living Americans carry the first name Earle. It is a predominantly male name (97.6% of registrations). The average person named Earle today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Earle births was 1918 (358 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Earle. 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 Earle is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 285 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Earle is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Earles were born before 1966.
People living today
3.1K
~ 1 in 111,429 Americans
Peak year
1918
358 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
2014 SSA rank
#5,533
Tracked since 1880
Census
Earle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,480 people with the first name Earle, which placed it at #5,063 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
#5,063
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,480 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Earle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Earle is White at 78.4%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Earle 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 Earle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.4% · 2,727
- Black or African American14.9% · 518
- Two or more races2.4% · 84
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 68
- Hispanic or Latino1.8% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 19
Gender
Gender distribution for Earle
Earle leans heavily male at 97.6% of total registrations, but 285 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Earle as a male name
- Ranked #11,106 in 2014
- 6 male births in 2014
- Peak: 1918 (350 births)
Earle as a female name
- Ranked #5,533 in 1947
- 5 female births in 1947
- Peak: 1916 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Earle leans strongly male. 3,411 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 70 female bearers (2.0%).
Popularity
Earle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Earle from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,886 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
Earle 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 Earle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Earles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Earle, while Mississippi, Colorado, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 168 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Earle
The given name Earle is an English masculine name derived from the Old English word "eorl," which means "nobleman" or "warrior." This name has its origins in Anglo-Saxon England and was commonly used among the nobility and upper classes.
The name Earle can be traced back to the 7th century AD, when it was first recorded in Old English texts. During this period, the name was often associated with men of high social standing and military prowess. In the medieval era, the name Earle was particularly popular among the aristocracy and was often bestowed upon the sons of earls, barons, and other noble families.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Earle can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record of events in Britain from the late 9th century to the 12th century. The name Earle is mentioned in connection with several important figures and events during this time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Earle. One of the most famous was Earle Tupper (1887-1983), an American inventor and entrepreneur best known for creating the Tupperware airtight plastic containers. Another prominent Earle was Earle E. Partridge (1900-1990), a United States Air Force general who served as the Commander-in-Chief of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) during the Cold War era.
In the literary realm, Earle Birney (1904-1995) was a renowned Canadian poet and novelist who won the Governor General's Award for Poetry twice. Earle Labor (1928-2019) was an American scholar and literary critic who specialized in the works of Jack London and published numerous books on the author's life and writings.
Another notable Earle was Earle Dickson (1892-1980), an American inventor who created the first commercial Band-Aid product while working for Johnson & Johnson. His invention revolutionized the way minor cuts and wounds were treated and became a household staple worldwide.
While the name Earle has its roots in Anglo-Saxon England, it has been adopted and used in various cultures and regions throughout history, reflecting the enduring appeal and significance of this name.
People
Earle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Earle as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Earle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Earle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,076 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Earle 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 111,429 US residents.
Is Earle a common name?
We classify Earle as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,790 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Earle most popular?
The single biggest year for Earle was 1918, when 358 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Earle is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Earle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,480 people with the name Earle, or 1.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,063 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 Earle 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 Earle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Earle leans strongly male. 3,411 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 70 female bearers (2.0%). 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 Earle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Earle is White at 78.4%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and Two or More Races (2.4%). 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 Earle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Earle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.4% (2,727 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 Earle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Earle a male name?
Yes, 97.6% of people registered as Earle in the SSA data are male. 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 Earle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Earle 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 Earle 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 Earle?
You can see how many people share the name Earle on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.