Mansell
A masculine name of Old French origin meaning "man's fort".
Name Census estimates that about 1 living Americans carry the first name Mansell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mansell today is around 122 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mansell births was 1915 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mansell. 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 Mansell is about 122 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Mansells were born before 1914.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Mansell. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
1
~ 1 in 342,754,338 Americans
Peak year
1915
5 babies that year
Average age
122
years old
1935 SSA rank
#3,968
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Mansell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mansell from the 1910s through to the 1930s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Mansell remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mansell 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 Mansell 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 Mansell
The given name Mansell is a variant of the German name Mansuetus, which comes from the Latin word "mansuetus" meaning "gentle" or "tame". This name originated in the Middle Ages, likely around the 5th to 8th centuries CE.
Mansell was initially more common in areas of modern-day Germany, France, and the Low Countries. Some early recorded spellings include Mansuet, Mansuetus, and Mansuwet. The name may have been influenced by similar-sounding Germanic names like Mansuind or Manswind.
One of the earliest known references to the name Mansell comes from the 9th century, when a Benedictine monk named Mansuetus was born in the Carolingian Empire around 842 CE. He later became the Bishop of Milan and was known for his gentleness and humility.
Another notable figure with the name Mansell was Saint Mansell, a 12th-century hermit and miracle worker from the Auvergne region of France. He is said to have lived a life of extreme austerity and performed several miraculous healings before his death around 1115 CE.
In the 13th century, Mansell de Biard (1220-1292) was an English clergyman and diplomat who served as the Chancellor of Oxford University and played a role in the negotiations between King Henry III and his barons during the Second Barons' War.
During the 14th century, Mansell Brocas (c. 1370-1436) was a prominent English soldier and landowner who fought in the Hundred Years' War and served as the Master of the Horse to King Henry V.
In the 16th century, Mansell Leaming (c. 1530-1592) was an English merchant and explorer who helped establish trade routes to the East Indies and is credited with introducing the first elephant to England in 1588.
People
Mansell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mansell as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mansell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mansell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mansell 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 342,754,338 US residents.
Is Mansell a common name?
We classify Mansell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 3.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mansell most popular?
The single biggest year for Mansell was 1915, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mansell is about 122 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 Mansell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mansell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mansell 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 Mansell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mansell 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 Mansell 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 Mansell?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.