Mozelle
A feminine English name derived from the French city name Moselle.
Name Census estimates that about 594 living Americans carry the first name Mozelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mozelle today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mozelle births was 1920 (254 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mozelle. 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 Mozelle is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Mozelles were born before 1963.
People living today
594
~ 1 in 577,028 Americans
Peak year
1920
254 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
1936 SSA rank
#3,421
Tracked since 1884
Census
Mozelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,008 people with the first name Mozelle, which placed it at #12,372 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
#12,372
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,008 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mozelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mozelle is Black at 51.3%. The next largest groups are White (42.1%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Mozelle 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 Mozelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.3% · 517
- White42.1% · 424
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 34
- Two or more races2.0% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Mozelle
Out of the 5,349 babies given the name Mozelle since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Mozelle as a male name
- Ranked #3,421 in 1936
- 6 male births in 1936
- Peak: 1936 (6 births)
Mozelle as a female name
- Ranked #16,868 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1920 (254 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mozelle leans strongly female. 975 people counted with this name were female (96.2%), compared with 39 male bearers (3.8%).
Popularity
Mozelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mozelle from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,781 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
Mozelle 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 Mozelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mozelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the most babies named Mozelle, while West Virginia, Louisiana, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 267 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mozelle
The name Mozelle is believed to have originated from the French language, specifically from the region of Moselle in northeastern France. This area is situated along the Moselle River, which flows through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. The name likely stems from the Latin word "Musella," which means "small stream" or "little brook."
The earliest recorded use of the name Mozelle dates back to the 16th century in France. It was initially a masculine name, but over time, it transitioned into a feminine name as well. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the name gained popularity among French aristocracy and nobility.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Mozelle was a French courtier named Mozelle de Montpensier, who lived during the reign of King Louis XIII in the early 17th century. He held a prominent position at the French court and was known for his diplomatic skills.
Another notable figure with the name Mozelle was a French actress and singer named Mozelle Delille, who lived from 1789 to 1862. She performed in various theaters across Paris and was celebrated for her talent and beauty.
In the 19th century, the name Mozelle crossed the Atlantic and became popular in parts of the United States, particularly in the southern states. One famous American with this name was Mozelle Rainey, a prominent educator and civil rights activist born in 1890. She dedicated her life to advocating for equal education opportunities for African Americans.
Another notable American with the name Mozelle was Mozelle Thompson, a lawyer and public servant born in 1938. She served as a commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission from 1997 to 2004 and played a significant role in shaping consumer protection policies.
The name Mozelle has also been used in literature and art. One example is the character Mozelle Bateman Rainey in the novel "The Salt Eaters" by Toni Cade Bambara, published in 1980. The character's name pays homage to the real-life educator Mozelle Rainey mentioned earlier.
People
Mozelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mozelle 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
Mozelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mozelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 594 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mozelle 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 577,028 US residents.
Is Mozelle a common name?
We classify Mozelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,349 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mozelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Mozelle was 1920, when 254 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mozelle is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mozelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,008 people with the name Mozelle, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,372 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 Mozelle 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 Mozelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mozelle leans strongly female. 975 people counted with this name were female (96.2%), compared with 39 male bearers (3.8%). 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 Mozelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mozelle is Black at 51.3%. The next largest groups are White (42.1%) and Hispanic (3.4%). 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 Mozelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Mozelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.3% (517 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 Mozelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mozelle a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Mozelle 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 Mozelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mozelle 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 Mozelle 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 Americans are named Mozelle?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.