Ethel

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled אטל in IL Israel, LB Lebanon, RO Romania and 3 more.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 13 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Ethel is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name176K records spelled Ethel7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Argentina, United States, Peru, Brazil

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Ethél, Éthel, Èthél

• a separate given name18K records spelled Ethel2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Italy

  Also written Éthel

• Hindi given name4.1K records spelled Ethel7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, South Africa

  Languages: Hindi, Sinhala, Urdu

  Also written এথেল

56 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Ethel is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• t9th-century revival of an Old English name, a short form of various female personal names containing ethel ‘noble’ as a first element, for example pEtheldreda. The name enjoyed great popularity for a period at the beginning of the 20th century. It is at present out of fashion.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, A female given name from Old English, popular at the turn of the 20th century.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Swedish, Ethel är ett engelskt namn, ursprungligen en kortform till namn på Ethel- ’ädel’. Etel förekommer i den finlandssvenska almanackan 13 april.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In French, Forme anglo-saxonne d’Adèle; origine germanique, signifie « noble ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In French, Abréviation de prénoms anglo-saxons en Æthel-, « noble ».

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Ethel Smythb. 1858GBEnglish composer and suffragette (1858–1944)
• Ethel Lilian Voynichb. 1864USBritish writer and musician (1864–1960)
• Ethel Griffiesb. 1878GBBritish actress (1878-1975)
• Ethel Barrymoreb. 1879USAmerican actress (1879–1959)
• Ethel Watersb. 1896USAmerican blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress (1896-1977)
• Ethel Mermanb. 1908USAmerican actress and singer (1908-1984)
• Ethel Catherwoodb. 1908CACanadian track and field athlete
• Judy Garlandb. 1922USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress, singer, dancer and vaudevillian (1922–1969)
• Ethel Kennedyb. 1928USAmerican human-rights campaigner and spouse of US Senator Robert F. Kennedy
• Sophie Fiennesb. 1967GBnot in their usual nameEnglish film director and producer

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 765 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Ethel?

We estimate roughly 50 thousand people bear Ethel (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Ethel have the most bearers?

Ethel is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled ethel.

How common is Ethel compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Ethel is the 448th most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Ethel a male or female name?

Ethel is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Ethel mean?

Recorded meaning: English short form, from Old English æðel ‘noble’