Rydell
From Swedish origins, a field suitable for cultivation or grazing animals.
Name Census estimates that about 389 living Americans carry the first name Rydell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rydell today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rydell births was 1960 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rydell. 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
389
~ 1 in 881,117 Americans
Peak year
1960
17 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2021 SSA rank
#9,523
Tracked since 1960
Census
Rydell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 360 people with the first name Rydell, which placed it at #26,062 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
#26,062
National first-name rank
People counted
360
360 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
57.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rydell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rydell is Black at 57.8%. The next largest groups are White (18.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (13.1%). 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 Rydell 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 Rydell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American57.8% · 208
- White18.6% · 67
- American Indian and Alaska Native13.1% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.3% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 13
- Two or more races1.7% · 6
Popularity
Rydell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rydell from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 98 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Rydell 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 Rydell 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 Rydell
The name Rydell has its origins in the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the ancient Scandinavian people. It is believed to have derived from the Old Norse words "ridr" meaning "rider" and "dill" meaning "valley" or "dell." Thus, the name Rydell could be interpreted to mean "valley rider" or "one who rides through valleys."
This name gained prominence during the Viking Age, a period spanning from the late 8th century to the late 11th century. During this time, the Vikings, who were skilled seafarers and warriors, explored and raided vast areas of Europe, leaving their mark on various cultures and languages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Rydell can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of literary works that document the lives and adventures of the Norse people. The Sagas mention several characters bearing the name Rydell, indicating its use and popularity among the Vikings.
Throughout history, there have been notable individuals who carried the name Rydell. One such figure was Rydell Gunnarsson (c. 980-1040), a renowned Viking warrior and explorer from Iceland. He is said to have participated in raids and explorations across the North Atlantic region.
Another prominent individual was Rydell Thorvaldsson (1120-1190), a respected Norse chieftain and landowner from Greenland. He played a crucial role in establishing and maintaining trade routes between Greenland and other Norse settlements in the region.
In the realm of literature, Rydell Eriksson (1615-1682) was a Swedish poet and playwright who contributed significantly to the development of Swedish drama during the 17th century. His works often explored themes of Norse mythology and Viking culture.
Moving forward in time, Rydell Svendsen (1832-1912) was a Norwegian explorer and cartographer. He led several expeditions to the Arctic regions, mapping and documenting uncharted territories during the late 19th century.
Lastly, Rydell Bjornsson (1901-1988) was a renowned Icelandic artist known for his captivating landscape paintings that captured the rugged beauty of the Icelandic countryside. His works are widely celebrated and displayed in museums across Iceland and beyond.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Rydell throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of cultural heritage associated with this ancient Norse name.
People
Rydell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rydell 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
Rydell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rydell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 389 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rydell 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 881,117 US residents.
Is Rydell a common name?
We classify Rydell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 412 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rydell most popular?
The single biggest year for Rydell was 1960, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rydell is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rydell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 360 people with the name Rydell, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,062 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 Rydell 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 Rydell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rydell leans strongly male. 334 people counted with this name were male (91.0%), compared with 33 female bearers (9.0%). 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 Rydell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rydell is Black at 57.8%. The next largest groups are White (18.6%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (13.1%). 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 Rydell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Rydell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.8% (208 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 Rydell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rydell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rydell 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 Rydell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rydell 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 Rydell 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 Rydell?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.