Hazel
Top 1000
About Hazel
Hazel has a pleasantly hazy, brownish-green-eyed, old-fashioned image that more and more parents are choosing to share. Former Old Lady name Hazel reentered the popularity lists in 1998 and now is near the top of the charts.
Hazel is a name that comes from the English word hazel, referring to the hazelnut tree. The word was derived from the Old English hæsel of the same meaning. Historically, a wand of hazel symbolized protection and authority.
When Julia Roberts named one of her twins Hazel in 2004, there was a great public outcry against "another one of those nutty celebrity names", though we saw it as the deserved revival of a lovely vintage name with roots in nature. Hazel was one of the botanicals that were all the rage at the turn of the twentieth century, when it was in the Top 25, then fell out of favor, off the list completely from 1976 to 1998.
Other celebrities with daughters named Hazel include Emily Blunt & John Krasinski, and Taylor Neisen & Liev Schreiber.
Hazel Motes is the protagonist of Flannery O'Connor's 1952 novel Wise Blood, and In The Hunger Games, one of the characters is the variant Hazelle. But the most influential Hazel of recent years is the heartrending heroine of Fault in Our Stars.
In a recent year, Hazel featured in the Top 10 in New Zealand and Australia, the Top 20 in the US and Canada, the Top 50 in Ireland, the Top 100 in the UK, and the Top 500 in the Netherlands. Given to 6400 girls in he US, Hazel was also chosen for 45 boys.
Love Hazel but not its popularity? Other nature-inspired vintage names include Myrtle, Sylvie, Goldie, Viola, and Fern, while some vintage leaning sound-alikes include Sybil, Hester, Adele, Zella, Mozelle, and Laurel.
Pronounced HAY-zul.
As of October 2026, Hazel ranked #21 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #18 in 1897, Nameberry popularity #39.
Editor's take: The name Hazel is a girl's name of English origin meaning "the hazelnut tree".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #105 | 2,909 | 1,628.5 |
| 2015 | #63 | 4,302 | 2,410 |
| 2016 | #52 | 4,681 | 2,641.6 |
| 2017 | #43 | 5,046 | 2,922.7 |
| 2018 | #42 | 4,951 | 2,910.5 |
| 2019 | #33 | 5,462 | 3,254.4 |
| 2020 | #31 | 5,513 | 3,410.4 |
| 2021 | #28 | 6,011 | 3,663.3 |
| 2022 | #27 | 6,157 | 3,754 |
| 2023 | #18 | 6,181 | 3,852.1 |
| 2024 | #19 | 6,401 | 3,950.8 |
| 2025 | #21 | 6,318 | 3,930.9 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Hazel.
- Violet
- Ivy
- Poppy
- Olive
- Ruby
- Iris
- Daisy
- Mae
- Penelope
- Cora
- Willow
- Maisie
- Stella
- Nora
- Rose
- Alice
- Lucy
- Eloise
- Juniper
- Clara
Hazel on lists
Famous Hazels
- Hazel Scott (1920
1981), Black jazz and classical pianist, singer, and actor
- Hazel Anne Blears
British MP and cabinet minister
- Hazel O'Connor
English singer,songwriter and actress
- Hazel Mae Clark
American Olympic athlete
- Hazel Hempel Abel
U.S. Senator from Nebraska
- Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman
American tennis player
- Hazel Jane Dickens
American bluegrass singer
- Hazel Keech (born Rose Dawn)
Indian,British actress
- Hazel Brooks
American actress
- Hazel McCallion
Canadian politician from Ontario
- Hazel Mae (Cagulada)
Canadian sportscaster
- Hazel Hayes
YouTube personality
- Hazel Lavery (1880
1935), wife and model of the Irish artist Sir John Lavery whose likeness appeared on Banknotes of Ireland for much of the 20th century
- Hazel Gordy Jackson
daughter of Motown producer Berry Gordy; wife of singer Jermaine Jackson
- Hazel Bailey Lessard (b. 2004)
daughter of musician Stefan Lessard of The Dave Matthews Band
- Hazel Patricia Moder (b. 2004)
daughter of actress Julia Roberts and Daniel Moder, twin of Phinnaeus Walter 'Finn' Moder
- Hazel Jane Moody (b. 2009)
daughter of novelist Rick Moody
- Hazel McMurray (b. 2013)
daughter of NASCAR driver Jamie McMurray
- Hazel Krasinski (b. 2014)
daughter of actors John Krasinski and Emily Blunt
- Hazel Flora Lieberstein (b. 2014)
daughter of writers Warren Lieberstein and Audrey Wauchope
- Hazel Lucia Castro (b. 2015)
daughter of singer Jason Castro
- Hazel Grace Busby (b.2015)
one of the Busby Quints on TV's "Outdaughtered"
- Hazel Pyatt (b. 2016)
daughter of ice hockey player Taylor Pyatt
- Hazel Nicola Lewis (b. 2016)
daughter of rugby league player Luke Lewis
Hazel in pop culture
- Hazel Grace Lancaster
main character in book/movie "The Fault in Our Stars"
- Hazel Burke
main character on TV's "Hazel"
- Hazel Levesque
character in the Heroes of Olympus series
- Hazel Wassername
character on TV's "30 Rock"
- Hazel Williams
character on TV's "Gossip Girl"
- Hazel Aden
character on TV's "Degrassi : The Next Generation"
- Hazel
character in video game "Amnesia: The Dark Descent"
- Hazel
male rabbit in book/movie "Watership Down"
- Hazel Bellamy
character on TV's "Upstairs, Downstairs"
- Hazel
Male character in the “Umbrella Academy”
- Hazel Shade
character in "Pale Fire" by Vladimir Nabokov
- Hazel Stone
character in "The Rolling Stones" by Robert A. Heinlein
- Hazel Frost
character in X,Men Comics
- Hazel Flagg
main character in 1937 film "Nothing Sacred"
- Hazel Charming
character in Canadian animated series "Little Charmers"
- Hazel
character in manga series Gensoumaden Saiyuki
- Hazel
main character in the comic "Saga"
- Hazel Wong
main character in the Wells and Wong Mysteries book series
- Hazel Cahn
character in game "Dream Daddy"
- Sister Hazel
American pop/rock band
- "Hazel
" Bob Dylan song
- Hazel
main character in the animated series “Infinity Train”
Variations & nicknames
- AvelineFrench