Feminine dossier · first seen 1880
Ethel
Endangered
Down 99.6% from peak
Peak era
1918
Peak births
8,075
Current vitality
Rare
Peak generation
Greatest Generation
Quick answers about Ethel
How many people are named Ethel?
An estimated 22,188 living Americans are named Ethel.
How rare is Ethel?
Ethel is very rare among babies today, with 34 girls receiving the name in 2025, down 99.6% from its 1918 peak.
How old is the typical Ethel?
The median age of a living American named Ethel is approximately 74 years, with most bearers falling between 65 and 81 years old.
Is Ethel still popular?
No. Ethel is endangered as a baby name, down 99.6% from its 1918 peak with 34 births in 2025.
Where is Ethel most common?
Ethel has its strongest geographic signal in Mississippi, where it appears 6.3× more often than the national baseline.
1880Peak 19182025
Peak year
1918
Decline from peak
99.6%
2025
34
All-time
278,922
Where it lives now
Ethel is most concentrated in Mississippi — about 4.4× the national rate in the 1970s.
States where Ethel is given more often than the national average — its present-day heartland.