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Axel

Scandinavian variation of Absalom
"father of peace"
Sophie Kihm
By Sophie Kihm
Updated Tue Sep 30 2025

Axel Origin and Meaning

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

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.

# 78 in the US

Axel Rank in US Top 1000

# 177 on Nameberry

Axel Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Popularity of the name Axel

20 Names Similar to Axel

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Axel.

Famous People Named Axel

  • Axel Springer
    German journalist and publisher
  • (Hans) Axel von Fersen the Younger
    Swedish soldier and statesman; lover of Marie Antoinette of France
  • Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna
    Count of Södermöre, Swedish statesman
  • Axel Patricio Fernando Witteveen Pardo
    Argentine singer,songwriter
  • Axel Laurent Angel Lambert Witsel
    Belgian footballer
  • Axel Brauns
    German writer and filmmaker
  • Axel Rodrigues de Arruda
    Brazilian footballer
  • Axel Cristóbal Jodorowsky
    Chilean,British actor
  • Axel Kicillof
    Argentine economist and politician
  • Axel Reymond
    French marathon swimmer
  • Axel Tuanzebe
    Congolese,British footballer
  • Axel Rudi Pell
    German guitarist of band Steeler
  • Axel Nelson (b. 1990)
    son of actor John Allen Nelson
  • Axel Saint
    Germain,Rousseau (b. 2008), son of actor Stéphane Rousseau
  • Axel Nurmenkari (b. 2009)
    son of figure skater Ari,Pekka Nurmenkari
  • Axel Paulin Ferrell (b. 2010)
    son of actor Will Ferrell
  • Axel Lee McElhenney (b. 2010)
    son of actors Kaitlin Olson and Robert Dale McElhenney
  • Axel Eaves (b. 2013)
    son of ice hockey player Patrick Eaves
  • Axel Bridges Willis (b. 2015)
    son of TV fitness trainers Michelle Bridges and Steve Willis
  • Axel Rain Green (b. 2016)
    son of ice hockey player Mike Green
  • Axel James Brush (b. 2017)
    son of American reality television star Maddie Brown Brush
  • Axel Strahl Meyers (b.2018)
    son of comedian Seth Meyers and Alexi Ashe
  • Axel Charles Bale (b. 2018)
    son of footballer Gareth Bale
  • Charlie Axel Woods (b. 2009)
    son of golfer Tiger Woods
  • Richard Axel
    American biologist; winner of the Nobel Prize
  • Axel Auriant
    French Actor

The name Axel in Pop Culture

  • Axel Mortmain
    Character in 'The Infernal Devices' Series by Cassandra Clare
  • Axel von dem Busche
    character in film "The Plot to Kill Hitler"
  • Axel
    minor character on TV's "The Walking Dead"
  • Axël d'Auersperg
    main character in play "Axël" by Auguste Villiers de l'Isle,Adam
  • Axel
    deceased king in the "Blood of Kings" trilogy by Jill Williamson
  • Axel
    character in video game "Kingdom Hearts"
  • Axel Heck
    eldest son on TV's 'The Middle'
  • Axel
    main character in Jules Verne's A Journey to the Center of the Earth
  • Axel Rex
    character in Vladimir Nabokov's "Laughter in the Dark"
  • Axel Heyst
    character in Joseph Conrad's "Victory"
  • Axel Foley
    leading character in the film Beverly Hills Cop
  • Axel Thurston
    character in the anime series Eureka Seven
  • Axel Brodie
    character in Yu,Gi,Oh! GX
  • Axel Palmer
    character in the 1981 film My Bloody Valentine and remake
  • Axel
    playable character from the Twisted Metal vehicular combat video game series
  • Axel
    elephant character from the Animal Crossing video game series
  • Axel
    playable character from the Crazy Taxi series
  • Axel
    character in the Suikoden game series
  • Axel
    Guardian of The Sanctuary of Water and Ice in Rayman 2: The Great Escape
  • Axel
    "Dark Hero", a character from the video game Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories
  • Axel Dark
    Key, villain of Ape Escape Million Monkeys
  • Axel Hawk
    character from the video game series Fatal Fury
  • Axel Steel
    character in the Guitar Hero video game series
  • Axel Stone
    character from the Streets of Rage video game series
  • Axel jump
    type of jump in figure skating
  • Axel Download Accelerator
    download manager for Linux
  • Axel Walker aka Trickster
    character on TV's "The Flash"
  • Axel
    character in the game "Minecraft Story Mode"
  • Axel Jordache
    character in Irwin Shaw's "Rich Man, Poor Man"
  • Axel
    Netherlands
  • Prince Axel
    older brother to the character Prince Hugo in the Disney Junior TV series "Sofia the First"

International Variations of the name Axel

  • Aksel
    Norwegian
  • Akseli
    Finnish

The name Axel in Nameberry Blog Posts