Ethel
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Ethel
Ethel is a name we once declared as 'So Far Out They'll Probably Always Be Out,' but with the return of other names on that list and with its new starbaby cred via Lily Allen, its soft sound and admirable meaning, we're not so sure.
At the turn of the last century, when Ethel Barrymore was the belle of Broadway, her first name was wildly popular, a Top 10 name for sixteen years and in the Top 100 until 1939. Other well-known bearers have been musical stars Ethel Merman and Ethel Waters and Robert Kennedy's widow. Not so distinguished: Ethel Mertz on "I Love Lucy".
Ethel fell away from such Old English appellations as Ethelberta, Ethelreda and Ethelinda. Now THOSE, we think we can safely say, are so far out they'll always be out.
Ethel is also given to boys.
Pronounced ETH-ul.
As of October 2026, Ethel ranked #4211 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #6 in 1896.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · girls | Births · girls | US rank · boys | Births · boys |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #4,851 | 28 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #4,387 | 32 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #4,930 | 26 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #4,878 | 27 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #4,832 | 28 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | — | 0 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #4,915 | 27 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #4,211 | 34 | — | 0 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Ethel.
Ethel on lists
Famous Ethels
- Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe)Girl
American actress
- Ethel ClaytonGirl
American silent film actress
- Ethel May DellGirl
English romance novelist
- Ethel Carow Roosevelt DerbyGirl
daughter of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
- Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmerman)Girl
American singer and actress
- Ethel TurnerGirl
Australian novelist
- Ethel Mary SmythGirl
English composer and feminist
- Ethel Skakel KennedyGirl
widow of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy
- Ethel WatersGirl
American jazz singer and actress
- Ethel Elizabeth GeeGirl
English spy
- Ethel Greenglass RosenbergGirl
American spy
- Ethel Lilian VoynichGirl
Irish novelist
- Ethel ShannonGirl
American silent film actress
- Ethel Kremer SchwabacherGirl
American painter
- Ethel L. PayneGirl
American journalist
- Ethel HaysGirl
American cartoonist
- Ethel Hannah CatherwoodGirl
Canadian Olympic athlete
- Ethel AzamaGirl
American jazz singer
- Ethel AylerGirl
American actress
- Ethel Percy AndrusGirl
American educator and founder of AARP
- Ethel Mary Cooper (b. 2011)Girl
daughter of singer Lily Allen
- Ethel CainGirl
Stage name of American singer Hayden Ähnedonia
Ethel in pop culture
- Ethel AndersonGirl
character on TV's "Brickleberry"
- Ethel ParksGirl
character on TV's "Downton Abbey"
- Ethel MertzGirl
character on TV's "I Love Lucy"
- Ethel May SkinnerGirl
character on British soap "EastEnders"
- Ethel HallowGirl
character in "The Worst Witch" series
- Big EthelGirl
character in Archie Comics
- Ethel DarlingGirl
character in "American Horror Story: Freak Show"
- Ethel ThayerGirl
character in Ernest Thompson's "On Golden Pond"
- Ethel EldonGirl
character in Mildred Keith series
- Short for EthelindaGirl
Ethelberta, Ethelgoda, Etheldred, Ethelwynn, etc.
- Ethel HardyGirl
character in G. A. Henty's "Out on the Pampas"
- Ethel ToffelmeyerGirl
character in "The Music Man"
- Ethel GrackleGirl
character in "Strange Hill High"