Russel
A masculine diminutive form of the name Russell, derived from Old French meaning "little red one".
Name Census estimates that about 7,475 living Americans carry the first name Russel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Russel today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Russel births was 1920 (394 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Russel. 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.
People living today
7.5K
~ 1 in 45,853 Americans
Peak year
1920
394 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,373
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Russel
Out of the 16,596 babies given the name Russel since 1880, 99.9% 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.
Russel as a male name
- Ranked #4,522 in 2024
- 23 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1920 (389 births)
Russel as a female name
- Ranked #4,373 in 1924
- 7 female births in 1924
- Peak: 1924 (7 births)
Popularity
Russel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Russel from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 3,300 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Russel 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 Russel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Russels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Ohio, California recorded the most babies named Russel, while Massachusetts, Hawaii, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 268 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Russel
The name Russel has its origins in the French language and the Old French word "rous" or "roux", which means red or reddish. This likely referred to someone with red hair or a ruddy complexion. It is also closely related to the Old German name "Rodolphus" and the ancient Frankish name "Hrodulf".
Some linguists believe the name Russel can be traced back to the Roman family name "Rubrius", meaning red. The spelling of Russel with a double 's' is thought to have emerged in England during the Norman conquest in the 11th century.
The earliest recorded example of the name Russel dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of land ownership in Norman England commissioned by William the Conqueror. It lists a landowner named "Russel de Dovre" in Hampshire.
In the 12th century, a prominent Norman family took the name "de Rosel" or "de Russell" and played an important role in English history. One member, Odoard de Rosel, was a military leader who accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066.
Sir William Russell (c. 1287-1349) was an English military veteran who fought in the Wars of Scottish Independence and the Hundred Years' War. He was knighted by Edward III and became a prominent landowner in Dorset.
John Russell (c. 1486-1555) was an English statesman who served as Lord Privy Seal under Henry VIII and Edward VI. He played a key role in the English Reformation and was created Earl of Bedford in 1550.
William Russell (1639-1683) was an English Whig politician who was implicated in the Rye House Plot to assassinate King Charles II. He was convicted of treason and executed in 1683.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) was a renowned British philosopher, logician, mathematician, and social critic. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought".
People
Russel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Russel 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
Russel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Russel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,475 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Russel 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 45,853 US residents.
Is Russel a common name?
We classify Russel as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,596 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Russel most popular?
The single biggest year for Russel was 1920, when 394 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Russel is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Russel a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Russel 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.
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.