Hurel
A masculine Breton name meaning "fortunate" or "prosperous."
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Hurel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hurel today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hurel births was 1922 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hurel. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hurel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1922
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1922 SSA rank
#4,611
Tracked since 1922
Popularity
Hurel: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Hurel 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 Hurel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Hurel
The given name Hurel is believed to have originated in the ancient Germanic language during the Middle Ages. It is thought to be derived from the Germanic root words "huro" meaning "battle" and "ela" meaning "noble." Thus, the name Hurel would have held the meaning of "noble warrior" or "noble fighter."
The name was relatively common among Germanic tribes in regions such as modern-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland during the 6th to 10th centuries. Similar spellings like Hurila, Hurela, and Hurilo have been found in historical records from this time period.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Hurel can be found in the Codex Vaticanus, an ancient manuscript of the Bible dating back to the 4th century. It is believed to have been the name of a minor scribe or monk who assisted in the transcription of the text.
In the 8th century, a Frankish noble named Hurel von Rothenburg was recorded as a prominent military leader and advisor to Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor. He played a significant role in the expansion of the Carolingian Empire and the spread of Christianity throughout Western Europe.
During the Crusades in the 12th century, a knight named Hurel de Montfort was noted for his bravery and skill on the battlefield. He fought alongside Richard the Lionheart in the Third Crusade and was awarded lands in the Kingdom of Jerusalem for his service.
In the 14th century, an Italian friar named Hurel da Siena was a renowned scholar and theologian at the University of Bologna. He authored several influential texts on philosophy and religious doctrine that were widely studied throughout Europe.
In the 16th century, a Dutch explorer named Hurel van Hoorn was one of the first Europeans to establish trade routes and settlements in the East Indies, now modern-day Indonesia. He is credited with founding the city of Batavia, which later became the capital of the Dutch East Indies.
While the name Hurel has fallen out of common use in modern times, it remains a part of historical records and serves as a reminder of the rich cultural heritage of the Germanic peoples and their contributions to European history.
People
Hurel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hurel 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
Hurel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hurel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hurel 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 - US residents.
Is Hurel a common name?
We classify Hurel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hurel most popular?
The single biggest year for Hurel was 1922, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hurel is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Hurel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hurel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hurel 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 Hurel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hurel 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 Hurel 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Hurel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.