Norell
Derivative of the Scandinavian name Nora meaning "shining light".
Name Census estimates that about 74 living Americans carry the first name Norell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 81.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Norell today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Norell births was 1977 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Norell. 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 Norell. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
74
~ 1 in 4,631,815 Americans
Peak year
1977
13 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2005 SSA rank
#10,518
Tracked since 1977
Census
Norell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 191 people with the first name Norell, which placed it at #39,504 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
#39,504
National first-name rank
People counted
191
191 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Norell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Norell is Black at 51.8%. The next largest groups are White (26.2%) and Hispanic (13.6%). 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 Norell 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 Norell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.8% · 99
- White26.2% · 50
- Hispanic or Latino13.6% · 26
- Two or more races4.7% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Norell
Norell leans heavily female at 81.0% of total registrations, but 15 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Norell as a male name
- Ranked #12,804 in 2005
- 5 male births in 2005
- Peak: 1977 (5 births)
Norell as a female name
- Ranked #10,518 in 1989
- 7 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1980 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Norell on both sides of the split. Of the 194 people counted with this name, 67 were male (34.5%) and 127 were female (65.5%).
Popularity
Norell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Norell from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 44 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Norell 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 Norell 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 Norell
The name Norell is believed to have originated in the Scandinavian countries, specifically Norway and Sweden. It is a variant of the Old Norse name Noridill, which is derived from the elements "nord" meaning "north" and "idill" meaning "work" or "toil." The name gained popularity during the Viking Age, between the 8th and 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Norell can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of medieval Icelandic literature. The name appears in the Saga of Grettir the Strong, which recounts the life and adventures of the legendary Icelandic outlaw and warrior, Grettir Ásmundarson (c. 1026 – c. 1031).
In the 13th century, a Norwegian nobleman named Norell Håkonsson (c. 1220 – c. 1290) was a prominent figure in the royal court of King Håkon IV Håkonsson. Håkonsson played a significant role in the political and military affairs of the kingdom during that period.
Another notable figure with the name Norell was the Swedish explorer and cartographer, Norell Andersson (1658 – 1724). He was part of an expedition to the Arctic regions in the early 18th century and is credited with mapping parts of the northern coast of Siberia.
In the realm of literature, the name Norell is associated with the Swedish author and poet, Norell Eriksson (1802 – 1870). He is celebrated for his contributions to the romantic literary movement in Sweden and his poignant depictions of rural life and landscapes.
During the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals with the name Norell was the American fashion designer and couturier, Norell Thompson (1900 – 1972). He was renowned for his elegant and sophisticated designs that were favored by many prominent socialites and celebrities of the time.
People
Norell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Norell as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Norell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Norell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 74 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Norell 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 4,631,815 US residents.
Is Norell a common name?
We classify Norell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 79 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Norell most popular?
The single biggest year for Norell was 1977, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Norell is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Norell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 191 people with the name Norell, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,504 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 Norell 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 Norell?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Norell on both sides of the split. Of the 194 people counted with this name, 67 were male (34.5%) and 127 were female (65.5%). 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 Norell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Norell is Black at 51.8%. The next largest groups are White (26.2%) and Hispanic (13.6%). 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 Norell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Norell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.8% (99 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 Norell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Norell a female name?
Yes, 81.0% of people registered as Norell 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 Norell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Norell 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 Norell 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 have the name Norell?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.