Russelle
A modern variant of the French masculine name Roussel or Rousseau.
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Russelle. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Russelle today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Russelle births was 1980 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Russelle. 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 Russelle. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
1980
6 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1980 SSA rank
#6,103
Tracked since 1980
Census
Russelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 180 people with the first name Russelle, which placed it at #41,022 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
#41,022
National first-name rank
People counted
180
180 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Russelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Russelle is White at 48.9%. The next largest groups are Black (21.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.4%). 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 Russelle 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 Russelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.9% · 88
- Black or African American21.1% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.4% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 11
- Two or more races3.9% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Russelle: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Russelle 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 Russelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Russelle
The given name Russelle originated in the early medieval period, deriving from the Old French masculine name Ruisel, which was a diminutive form of the Germanic name Rodolphus or Rudolf. This name ultimately traces its roots back to the Proto-Germanic elements "hruod" meaning "fame" and "wulf" meaning "wolf."
In its earliest recorded uses, Russelle was primarily found in regions of modern-day France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, where it was a popular name among the nobility and aristocracy. It is believed to have been introduced to these areas by the Frankish tribes during their migrations and settlements in the 5th and 6th centuries.
One of the earliest known historical references to the name Russelle can be found in the "Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Saint-Bertin," a medieval cartulary from the 9th century, which mentions a nobleman named "Russelle de Boulogne" who made a donation to the abbey.
Throughout the Middle Ages, Russelle gained popularity as a name among the French nobility and was borne by several notable individuals. One such figure was Russelle de Courtenay (c. 1150-1219), a prominent crusader and lord of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, who participated in the Third Crusade and fought alongside Richard the Lionheart.
Another notable bearer of the name was Russelle de Villehardouin (c. 1165-1237), a French historian and chronicler who wrote the influential "La Conquête de Constantinople," an eyewitness account of the Fourth Crusade and the sacking of Constantinople in 1204.
During the Renaissance period, the name Russelle continued to be used, albeit less frequently. One notable figure from this time was Russelle Estienne (1503-1559), a French Renaissance scholar, printer, and publisher who was part of the renowned Estienne family of humanist scholars and printers.
In the 17th century, Russelle appeared in the literary works of French playwright Molière. In his play "Les Précieuses ridicules," one of the characters is named Russelle, highlighting the name's continued use among the French upper classes during this period.
While the name Russelle has become less common in modern times, it has been borne by a few notable individuals throughout history. These include Russelle Crouse (1893-1972), an American playwright and librettist best known for his work on the musical "Anything Goes," and Russelle Sage (1828-1918), an American financier and philanthropist who amassed a substantial fortune in the late 19th century.
People
Russelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Russelle 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
Russelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Russelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Russelle 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Russelle a common name?
We classify Russelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% 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 Russelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Russelle was 1980, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Russelle is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Russelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 180 people with the name Russelle, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,022 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 Russelle 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 Russelle?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Russelle on both sides of the split. Of the 178 people counted with this name, 75 were male (42.1%) and 103 were female (57.9%). 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 Russelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Russelle is White at 48.9%. The next largest groups are Black (21.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (19.4%). 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 Russelle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Russelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.9% (88 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 Russelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Russelle a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Russelle 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 Russelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Russelle 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 Russelle 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 have the name Russelle?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Russelle at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.