Ranel
A variant of the French name Reynaud, meaning "counsel leader".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Ranel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ranel today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ranel births was 1921 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ranel. 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 Ranel with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ranel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1921
6 babies that year
Average age
-
1921 SSA rank
#4,233
Tracked since 1921
Census
Ranel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 200 people with the first name Ranel, which placed it at #38,397 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
#38,397
National first-name rank
People counted
200
200 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ranel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ranel is White at 39.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (29.0%) and Black (21.0%). 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 Ranel 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 Ranel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.0% · 78
- Asian and Pacific Islander29.0% · 58
- Black or African American21.0% · 42
- Hispanic or Latino9.5% · 19
- Two or more races1.5% · 3
Popularity
Ranel: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ranel 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 Ranel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ranel
The name Ranel has its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, with roots that can be traced back to the 5th century. It is derived from the Proto-Germanic word "randa," which means "shield" or "border." The name was initially used as a descriptive term for individuals who lived near borders or fortified settlements.
In the Middle Ages, the name Ranel gained popularity among the Frankish nobility, and it is recorded in several historical documents from that era. One notable bearer of the name was Ranel of Aquitaine, a 9th-century Frankish nobleman who played a significant role in the Carolingian Dynasty.
The name Ranel also appears in some ancient religious texts, particularly in the Old English translation of the Bible. In the Book of Genesis, there is a reference to a place called "Ranel's Field," which may have been named after an individual with this name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ranel dates back to the 11th century. Ranel de Baux was a nobleman from Provence, France, who participated in the First Crusade and became a prominent figure in the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ranel. Ranel de Courtenay (c. 1150-1219) was a French nobleman and military leader who fought in the Third Crusade and later became the Lord of Courtenay. Ranel Odo (c. 1175-1237) was a Benedictine monk and chronicler from England, known for his historical writings.
In the 14th century, Ranel de Baux (c. 1310-1379) was a French nobleman and military commander who served as the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller from 1365 to 1367. During the Renaissance period, Ranel Filelfo (1426-1481) was an Italian humanist scholar and poet who played a significant role in the revival of classical learning.
Another notable bearer of the name was Ranel Montague (1590-1663), an English courtier and soldier who served as a Member of Parliament during the English Civil War. He was a staunch supporter of King Charles I and fought for the Royalist cause.
People
Ranel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ranel 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
Ranel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ranel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ranel 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 - US residents.
Is Ranel a common name?
We classify Ranel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ranel most popular?
The single biggest year for Ranel was 1921, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ranel is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ranel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 200 people with the name Ranel, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,397 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 Ranel 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 Ranel?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ranel on both sides of the split. Of the 204 people counted with this name, 125 were male (61.3%) and 79 were female (38.7%). 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 Ranel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ranel is White at 39.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (29.0%) and Black (21.0%). 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 Ranel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ranel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.0% (78 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 Ranel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ranel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ranel 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 Ranel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ranel 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 Ranel 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 Ranel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.