Randell
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "shield wolf" or "shield bear".
Name Census estimates that about 8,088 living Americans carry the first name Randell. It is a predominantly male name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Randell today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Randell births was 1960 (323 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Randell. 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 Randell with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Randell is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 148 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
8.1K
~ 1 in 42,378 Americans
Peak year
1960
323 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,154
Tracked since 1912
Census
Randell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,877 people with the first name Randell, which placed it at #3,167 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
#3,167
National first-name rank
People counted
6.9K
6,877 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Randell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Randell is White at 72.9%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Randell 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 Randell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.9% · 5,013
- Black or African American16.5% · 1,136
- Two or more races3.3% · 226
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 217
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 154
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 131
Gender
Gender distribution for Randell
Randell leans heavily male at 98.5% of total registrations, but 148 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Randell as a male name
- Ranked #8,154 in 2024
- 10 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1960 (323 births)
Randell as a female name
- Ranked #13,015 in 1994
- 6 female births in 1994
- Peak: 1986 (22 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Randell leans strongly male. 6,709 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 167 female bearers (2.4%).
Popularity
Randell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Randell from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 2,465 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
Randell 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 Randell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Randells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. Texas, California, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Randell, while Maryland, Iowa, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 183 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Randell
The name Randell is believed to have originated from the Old English word "rand", which means "rim" or "border". It is a variation of the name Randolph, which was derived from the Germanic elements "rand" (rim) and "wulf" (wolf).
The earliest recorded use of the name Randell dates back to the 12th century in England. It was initially used as a surname, but over time, it also became a popular given name.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Randell was Randell de Glanville, who lived in the late 12th century and served as the Chief Justiciar of England under King Richard I and King John.
In the 13th century, Randell Higden, an English monk and chronicler, wrote the influential work "Polychronicon", which was a universal history from the creation of the world to the year 1357.
During the 15th century, Randell Holme, an English officer of arms and writer on heraldry, lived and worked. He is best known for his influential manuscript "The Academy of Armory", which was a comprehensive treatise on heraldry.
In the 16th century, Randell Cotgrave, an English lexicographer, produced one of the first comprehensive French-English dictionaries, titled "A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues".
Another notable individual with the name Randell was Randell Revell, an English architect and government official who lived in the 17th century. He was involved in the design and construction of several important buildings in London, including the Banqueting House in Whitehall.
While the name Randell has its roots in Old English and has been present throughout British history, it has also been used in other parts of the world, particularly in areas influenced by British culture and language.
People
Randell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Randell 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
Randell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Randell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,088 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Randell 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 42,378 US residents.
Is Randell a common name?
We classify Randell as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,148 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Randell most popular?
The single biggest year for Randell was 1960, when 323 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Randell is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Randell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,877 people with the name Randell, or 2.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,167 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 Randell 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 Randell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Randell leans strongly male. 6,709 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 167 female bearers (2.4%). 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 Randell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Randell is White at 72.9%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Two or More Races (3.3%). 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 Randell most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Randell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.9% (5,013 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 Randell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Randell a male name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Randell 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 Randell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Randell 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 Randell 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 are named Randell?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.