The name Axel is a girl's name meaning "father of peace".

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A Top 100 name among boys, but a rare option for a girl. The French female form is Axelle (emphasis on the "elle").

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Axel

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The name Axel peaked for girls at #6574 in 2017. Axel is also used for boys, ranking #79 in 2025.

The name Axel is a boy's name of German, Scandinavian origin meaning "father of peace".

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A classic in its native Scandinavia, Axel has a cool rock 'n' roll flavor in the US, thanks to Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose (born William). With its distinctive letter 'x', it has an effortlessly cool vibe about it, and is currently growing in popularity.
 
Axel is the Scandinavian form of the Biblical Absalom, who was a son of King David, and is the name of the title character of William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom. More wearable than its derivation, perhaps, Axel is currently ranks in the Top 100 names for boys in the US, the UK, Sweden, France, Spain, and Norway. 
 In the US, it first entered the popularity charts in 1989, one year after the release of one of Guns N' Roses biggest hits, showing just how influential popular culture can can be.
 More recently, Axel was chosen by Will Ferrell for his third son, and also by Rob McElhenney and Kaitlin Olson for their boys, and it's the middle name of Tiger Woods' boy Charlie. Axel Foley was the character played by Eddie Murphy in the Beverly Hills Cop movies and, going further back again, was the name of an important character in Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. 
 
A bit like a updated Alex, Axel was given to 4245 boys in the US in a recent year, so if it was an undiscovered gem you were after, you could consider Absalom itself, or perhaps another Scandinavian option, such as Anker, Konrad, Torfinn, or Torkell.

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The name Axel is currently ranked #79 in U.S. births. and peaked for boys at #71 in 2023. The name is most popular in AXEL, AXEL, and AXEL. Axel is occasionally used for girls in 2025.

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