Girls' name · peaked in 1894
Ethel name popularity since 1925
98,886 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Ethel (99.3% girls, 0.7% boys). Half of them were born in 1936 or earlier, so the typical Ethel is about 90 years old in 2026. Ethel peaked in 1894 as the #7 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 98,886
- Named Ethel, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1894
- #7 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #4,211 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.3% girls
- 98,229 girls · 657 boys
- Most popular in
- Mississippi
- 4.62× its national share
Peak year is the year Ethel made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Ethel births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Ethel peaked earlier, in 1894.
- Steepest fall: Between 1965 and 1970, Ethel's share of baby girls fell by 48%, from 1 in 4,010 to 1 in 7,670.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Ethel's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Ethel.
Decade by decade
Babies named Ethel in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 26,962 | 186 | – |
| 1930s | 31,582 | 279 | #82 |
| 1940s | 20,582 | 106 | #134 |
| 1950s | 11,544 | 56 | #247 |
| 1960s | 4,691 | 30 | #457 |
| 1970s | 1,499 | 0 | #889 |
| 1980s | 547 | 0 | #2,002 |
| 1990s | 272 | 0 | #4,134 |
| 2000s | 187 | 0 | #6,086 |
| 2010s | 198 | 0 | #9,129 |
| 2020–25 | 165 | 0 | #4,211 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
55.0% of babies named Ethel from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Ethel is most popular
The index compares Ethel's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Ethel.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 4.62× | 5,418 |
| South Carolina | 3.29× | 4,469 |
| Alabama | 3.15× | 5,389 |
| Louisiana | 2.87× | 4,992 |
| Arkansas | 2.39× | 2,376 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Ethel's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Ethel.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Ethel (1894).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data