Thurl
A variant of the English surname-derived name meaning "from Thor's valley".
Name Census estimates that about 64 living Americans carry the first name Thurl. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thurl today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thurl births was 1924 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thurl. 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
- • The typical person named Thurl is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Thurls were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Thurl. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
64
~ 1 in 5,355,537 Americans
Peak year
1924
16 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1967 SSA rank
#4,493
Tracked since 1912
Census
Thurl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 121 people with the first name Thurl, which placed it at #50,149 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
#50,149
National first-name rank
People counted
121
121 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thurl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thurl is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Hispanic (5.0%). 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 Thurl 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 Thurl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.6% · 89
- Black or African American16.5% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 6
- Two or more races3.3% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 2
Popularity
Thurl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thurl from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 108 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
Thurl 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 Thurl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thurls live
Origin
Meaning and history of Thurl
The name Thurl is a relatively uncommon given name with origins that can be traced back to the Middle English and Old Norse languages. It is believed to be derived from the Old Norse word "þurl," which means "a giant" or "a powerful being."
In the early medieval period, the name was primarily found in Scandinavian regions, particularly in Norway and Iceland. It was often used to describe individuals of imposing stature or great physical strength, reflecting the cultural significance of such traits in Viking society.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Thurl can be found in the Old Norse sagas, where it appears as a name given to characters with notable physical prowess or heroic deeds. For example, in the Icelandic saga "Egil's Saga," a character named Thurl Nefja is described as a formidable warrior and skilled swordsman.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Thurl remained relatively obscure, with only a handful of documented individuals bearing this moniker. One notable figure was Thurl the Viking (c. 980-1045), a Norwegian explorer and trader who is said to have established settlements along the coasts of Greenland and North America.
As the centuries passed, the name Thurl fell into disuse, and it was not until the 19th century that it experienced a modest resurgence. One of the earliest recorded modern individuals with this name was Thurl Ravenscroft (1914-2005), an American bass singer and voice actor best known for providing the vocal effects for the character Tony the Tiger in Frosted Flakes cereal commercials.
Another notable bearer of the name Thurl was Thurl Bailey (born 1961), a former American professional basketball player who played in the NBA for several teams, including the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves, between 1983 and 1999.
Other individuals with the first name Thurl include Thurl Metzger (1919-2002), an American film and television actor known for his roles in westerns and science fiction movies, and Thurl Woodley (1893-1970), a Canadian politician who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.
While the name Thurl remains relatively uncommon today, its unique origins and historical associations with strength, heroism, and exploration have contributed to its enduring appeal as a distinctive and memorable given name.
People
Thurl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thurl as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Thurl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thurl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 64 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thurl 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 5,355,537 US residents.
Is Thurl a common name?
We classify Thurl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 295 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thurl most popular?
The single biggest year for Thurl was 1924, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thurl is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thurl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 121 people with the name Thurl, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50,149 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 Thurl 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 Thurl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thurl leans strongly male. 112 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 5 female bearers (4.3%). 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 Thurl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thurl is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Black (16.5%) and Hispanic (5.0%). 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 Thurl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Thurl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.6% (89 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 Thurl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thurl a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thurl 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 Thurl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thurl 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 Thurl 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 named Thurl?
Find out how many people have the name Thurl on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.