Rell
A name of uncertain origins, possibly a variant of Ralph or Ralph.
Name Census estimates that about 30 living Americans carry the first name Rell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 65.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Rell today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rell births was 1941 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rell. 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 Rell. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
30
~ 1 in 11,425,145 Americans
Peak year
1941
7 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
1954 SSA rank
#4,256
Tracked since 1941
Census
Rell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 287 people with the first name Rell, which placed it at #30,385 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
#30,385
National first-name rank
People counted
287
287 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rell is Black at 51.6%. The next largest groups are White (32.1%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). 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 Rell 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 Rell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.6% · 148
- White32.1% · 92
- Two or more races7.3% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Rell
Rell is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 35 total registrations, 12 (34.3%) were male and 23 (65.7%) were female.
Rell as a male name
- Ranked #4,256 in 1954
- 5 male births in 1954
- Peak: 1941 (7 births)
Rell as a female name
- Ranked #14,793 in 2023
- 6 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2020 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Rell on both sides of the split. Of the 291 people counted with this name, 209 were male (71.8%) and 82 were female (28.2%).
Popularity
Rell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rell from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 18 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rell 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 Rell 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 Rell
The name Rell is a diminutive form of the German name Reginald, which means "counsel power" or "ruling prince". The name Reginald has its origins in the Old German name Raginhart, which is composed of the elements ragin, meaning "counsel", and hart, meaning "hardy" or "brave".
Rell emerged as a shortened form of Reginald during the Middle Ages, particularly in England and parts of northern Europe. It was a popular name among the nobility and aristocracy, as it carried connotations of leadership and authority.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rell can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Rell de Warenne", referring to a Norman nobleman who held lands in Sussex and Surrey.
Throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance period, the name Rell was associated with several notable figures. Rell de Montfort (c. 1249-1285) was an English nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the Second Barons' War against King Henry III. Rell de Beaumont (c. 1279-1344) was an English nobleman and soldier who served as a commander during the Hundred Years' War.
In the 16th century, Rell Gresham (c. 1519-1579) was a prominent English merchant and financier who served as a financial advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. He was instrumental in establishing the Royal Exchange in London and played a crucial role in the development of early modern English banking and finance.
During the 17th century, Rell Monck (1638-1718) was an English soldier and politician who played a pivotal role in the Restoration of the monarchy after the English Civil War. He was instrumental in facilitating the return of King Charles II to the English throne in 1660.
Another notable figure with the name Rell was Rell Harte (1865-1909), an Irish novelist and short story writer who was a prominent figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His works, such as "The Untilled Field" and "The Dollymount Goggins", explored themes of Irish identity and rural life.
While the name Rell has declined in popularity in modern times, it remains a part of the historical tapestry of names, reflecting the cultural and linguistic influences of various regions and time periods.
People
Rell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rell 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
Rell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 30 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rell 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 11,425,145 US residents.
Is Rell a common name?
We classify Rell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 35 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rell most popular?
The single biggest year for Rell was 1941, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rell is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 287 people with the name Rell, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,385 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 Rell 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 Rell?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Rell on both sides of the split. Of the 291 people counted with this name, 209 were male (71.8%) and 82 were female (28.2%). 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 Rell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rell is Black at 51.6%. The next largest groups are White (32.1%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). 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 Rell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.6% (148 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 Rell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rell a female name?
Yes, 65.7% of people registered as Rell 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 Rell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rell 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 Rell 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 called Rell?
You can see how many people share the name Rell on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.