Herschell
Of German origin meaning "deer hunter" or "deer woods".
Name Census estimates that about 351 living Americans carry the first name Herschell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Herschell today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Herschell births was 1924 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Herschell. 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 Herschell is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Herschells were born before 1967.
People living today
351
~ 1 in 976,508 Americans
Peak year
1924
33 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
1997 SSA rank
#9,821
Tracked since 1897
Census
Herschell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 369 people with the first name Herschell, which placed it at #25,627 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
#25,627
National first-name rank
People counted
369
369 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Herschell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Herschell is White at 61.5%. The next largest groups are Black (30.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Herschell 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 Herschell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.5% · 227
- Black or African American30.9% · 114
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 8
- Two or more races1.9% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 4
Popularity
Herschell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Herschell from the 1890s through to the 1990s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 267 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
Herschell 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 Herschell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Herschells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Indiana, Tennessee, Texas recorded the most babies named Herschell, while Florida, Alabama, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Herschell
The name Herschell has its roots in the German language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is a Germanic name derived from the Old High German word "heriscellu," which means "army" or "warrior." This name was likely given to children with the hope that they would grow up to be strong and brave like soldiers.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Herschell can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus, a collection of medieval charters and documents from the 9th century. The name appears in a document from the year 845, which mentions a nobleman named "Herschellus" who owned land in the region now known as Bavaria.
In the 12th century, a famous German philosopher and theologian named Herschell of Augsburg (c. 1110 – c. 1175) was known for his writings on logic and ethics. He was a prominent figure in the intellectual circles of his time and is considered one of the earliest proponents of scholastic philosophy.
During the Renaissance period, a German astronomer named Herschell Apian (1495 – 1552) gained recognition for his work in cartography and the study of celestial bodies. He is best known for creating the first modern star charts and for his contributions to the field of mathematics.
In the 18th century, a British astronomer named Herschell Herschel (1738 – 1822) made significant discoveries in the field of astronomy. He is credited with discovering the planet Uranus and several moons of Saturn, as well as identifying numerous deep-sky objects such as nebulae and star clusters.
Another notable figure with the name Herschell was Herschell Gordon Lewis (1926 – 2016), an American filmmaker and educator who is often referred to as the "Godfather of Gore." He is regarded as a pioneer of the splatter film genre and is known for his low-budget horror movies that featured graphic violence and gore.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Herschell. While the name has its roots in Germanic culture, it has been used across various regions and time periods, often associated with individuals who made significant contributions in fields such as philosophy, astronomy, and even filmmaking.
People
Herschell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Herschell as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Herschell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Herschell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 351 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Herschell 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 976,508 US residents.
Is Herschell a common name?
We classify Herschell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,059 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Herschell most popular?
The single biggest year for Herschell was 1924, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Herschell is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Herschell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 369 people with the name Herschell, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,627 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 Herschell 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 Herschell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Herschell leans strongly male. 345 people counted with this name were male (93.2%), compared with 25 female bearers (6.8%). 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 Herschell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Herschell is White at 61.5%. The next largest groups are Black (30.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Herschell most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Herschell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.5% (227 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 Herschell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Herschell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Herschell 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 Herschell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Herschell 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 Herschell 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 common is the name Herschell?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.