Randal
Shield wolf; derived from the Germanic elements "rand" meaning shield and "wulf" meaning wolf.
Name Census estimates that about 23,839 living Americans carry the first name Randal. It is a predominantly male name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Randal today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Randal births was 1958 (1,477 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Randal. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Randal with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Randal is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 132 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Randal have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
24K
~ 1 in 14,378 Americans
Peak year
1958
1,477 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,587
Tracked since 1909
Census
Randal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 24,438 people with the first name Randal, which placed it at #1,412 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
#1,412
National first-name rank
People counted
24K
24,438 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
8.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Randal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Randal is White at 88.1%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.0%). 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 Randal 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 Randal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.1% · 21,532
- Black or African American4.0% · 982
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 745
- Two or more races2.6% · 629
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 348
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 202
Gender
Gender distribution for Randal
Out of the 29,306 babies given the name Randal since 1880, 99.5% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Randal as a male name
- Ranked #5,587 in 2024
- 17 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1958 (1,477 births)
Randal as a female name
- Ranked #11,466 in 1994
- 7 female births in 1994
- Peak: 1986 (37 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Randal appears almost entirely male. Of the 24,441 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Randal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Randal from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 10,373 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Randal 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 Randal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Randals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 47 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Randal, while Nevada, Delaware, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 538 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Randal
The name Randal is of Germanic origin, deriving from the Old German word "rent" meaning "shield" and "wahl" meaning "rule" or "leader". It is believed to have first emerged as a personal name during the Middle Ages, around the 8th or 9th century AD.
The earliest recorded use of the name Randal can be traced back to the 11th century, where it was found in various medieval records and chronicles across Europe. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Randal de Gernon, a Norman nobleman who lived in the late 11th century and fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman conquest of England.
In the 12th century, Randal was a relatively popular name among the Anglo-Norman aristocracy in England. One notable figure was Randal de Blundeville, Earl of Chester, who lived from around 1170 to 1232 and was a prominent military leader and nobleman during the reign of King John.
The name Randal also appears in various literary works from the Middle Ages, including the epic poem "Beowulf" where it is mentioned as the name of a Danish warrior. It is also found in some early English and Scottish ballads and folktales, highlighting its widespread use across different cultures.
During the Renaissance period, the name Randal gained popularity in parts of Europe, particularly in England and Scotland. One notable bearer of the name was Randal McDonnell, an Irish chieftain and leader of the McDonnell clan in the 16th century, who played a significant role in the Tudor conquest of Ireland.
In more recent history, several notable individuals have borne the name Randal, including Randal Cremer (1828-1908), a British politician and pacifist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1903. Another notable figure was Randal Kleiser (born 1946), an American film director known for directing films such as "Grease" and "The Blue Lagoon".
Notable bearers
Famous people named Randal
People
Randal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Randal as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Randal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Randal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23,839 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Randal 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 14,378 US residents.
Is Randal a common name?
We classify Randal as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 29,306 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Randal most popular?
The single biggest year for Randal was 1958, when 1,477 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Randal is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Randal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 24,438 people with the name Randal, or 8.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,412 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 Randal 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 Randal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Randal appears almost entirely male. Of the 24,441 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Randal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Randal is White at 88.1%. The next largest groups are Black (4.0%) and Hispanic (3.0%). 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 Randal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Randal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.1% (21,532 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 Randal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Randal a male name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Randal 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 Randal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Randal 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 Randal 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 share the name Randal?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.