How Many People Are Named Herchel?
An estimated 132 people in the United States have the first name Herchel. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 73 years old, and Herchel peaked in popularity in 1918 with 19 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Herchel as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Herchel paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- With an average bearer age of 73, Herchel is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1963.
Estimated Living Americans
132
About 1 in 2,596,624 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
100.0% confidence
Average Age
73
years old
Peak Year
1918
19 births
Total Registered
454
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Herchel
Herchel is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 454 total births registered, 100.0% were male.
Herchel as a male name
Ranked #8,694 in 1991
5 male births in 1991
Peak: 1918 (19 births)
Herchel: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Herchel span from the 1900s to the 1990s, covering 10 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 116 babies were registered. Herchel has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Herchel by Decade
How has Herchel tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Herchel by State
Herchel + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Herchel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Herchel
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
Herchel: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Herchel?
We estimate approximately 132 people named Herchel are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 2,596,624 Americans share this first name.
Is Herchel a common name?
Herchel is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 68.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 454 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Herchel most popular?
Herchel reached peak popularity in 1918, when 19 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Herchel is approximately 73 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Herchel a male name?
Herchel is predominantly male. 100.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Herchel Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Herchel Smith, Herchel Johnson, Herchel Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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