Zelle
A name with uncertain origins, possibly derived from the German word meaning "cell".
Name Census estimates that about 16 living Americans carry the first name Zelle. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Zelle today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zelle births was 1892 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zelle. 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 Zelle. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
16
~ 1 in 21,422,146 Americans
Peak year
1892
6 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,283
Tracked since 1892
Gender
Gender distribution for Zelle
Zelle is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 27 total registrations, 6 (22.2%) were male and 21 (77.8%) were female.
Zelle as a male name
- Ranked #12,283 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (6 births)
Zelle as a female name
- Ranked #17,624 in 2021
- 5 female births in 2021
- Peak: 1892 (6 births)
Popularity
Zelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zelle from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 11 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
Zelle 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 Zelle 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 Zelle
The name Zelle is a German name with its origins rooted in the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old German word "zelle," which means "cell" or "small room." This name may have been given to people who lived in small, secluded dwellings or perhaps even monks who resided in monastic cells.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zelle can be found in the 12th-century Latin text "Chronica Monasterii Casinensis" by the monk Peter the Deacon. The text mentions a monk named Zelle who lived at the Monte Cassino monastery in Italy during the 1100s.
In the 14th century, there are records of a German artist named Zelle von Augsburg, who was renowned for his woodcarvings and sculptures. He lived between 1320 and 1390 and was commissioned to create works for various churches and nobility in the region.
During the Renaissance period, a famous German mathematician and astronomer named Johann Zelle lived from 1508 to 1572. He made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy, publishing several treatises and working as a professor at the University of Wittenberg.
In the 18th century, a German composer named Johann Friedrich Zelle was born in 1737. He composed several operas and instrumental works and served as the court composer for the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg.
Another notable figure with the name Zelle was the German-American dancer and spy, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, better known by her stage name Mata Hari. Born in 1876, she gained notoriety as an exotic dancer and was executed in 1917 by the French for allegedly spying for Germany during World War I.
While the name Zelle may not be as common today, it has a rich history spanning several centuries and has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including artists, scholars, composers, and even a famous spy.
People
Zelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zelle as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zelle 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 21,422,146 US residents.
Is Zelle a common name?
We classify Zelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 36.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Zelle was 1892, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zelle is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Zelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Zelle a female name?
Yes, 77.8% of people registered as Zelle 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 Zelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Zelle 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 Zelle 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Zelle?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.