Masterpiece Generator Name Generator
How popular is the name Ethel?
Births per year, rank history and how many Ethels are alive today.
Ethel (female), once a common girls' name, is now rarely given to new babies in England and Wales: just 26 in 2025, ranked 1229th. The name peaked in 1904, when around 8,700 babies were given the name, the 13th most popular that year. It has declined since 1904; the 2025 figure is roughly 1% of its peak. At least 120,000 babies have been named Ethel in England and Wales since 1904. Figures before 1996 are estimates.
The Ethel you are most likely to meet is around 79 years old. Half of all Ethels born in England and Wales are between 57 and 86, and there are at least 10,000 of them alive today. If you walk into a room of 100 females, there's roughly a 3.1% chance that at least one of them will be called Ethel.
How many babies are named Ethel each year?
Where does Ethel rank among girls' names?
Where this data comes from
Figures from 1996 onwards are the Office for National Statistics' annual baby-name registrations for England and Wales, which record every name given to three or more babies in a year. Figures before 1996 are estimates: the ONS published only top-100 rankings at ten-year intervals back to 1904, so counts for those years are modelled from the rankings, calibrated against Douglas Galbi's long-run research into English name frequencies, and shown with an uncertainty band. Estimates of living bearers combine these birth figures with national life tables and ONS mid-year population estimates.
One limit worth naming: these figures count names as registered at birth. Anyone who changes their name later in life - including trans people, and anyone who adopts a different name by deed poll or simply by use - is not reflected here. Birth registrations record where a name began, not the name a person lives with.
Common questions
When was the name Ethel most popular?
Ethel peaked in 1904, when around 8,700 babies in England and Wales were given the name.
How many people are called Ethel?
At least 10,000 people named Ethel born in England and Wales are alive today.
How old is the typical Ethel?
Most living Ethels are between 57 and 86; the most common age is about 79.
Is Ethel becoming more or less popular?
Rising: numbers have been climbing in recent years.