How Many People Are Named Russel?
An estimated 7,475 people in the United States have the first name Russel. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 58 years old, and Russel peaked in popularity in 1920 with 394 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Russel 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 Russel paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
7,475
About 1 in 45,853 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
99.9% confidence
Average Age
58
years old
Peak Year
1920
394 births
Total Registered
16,596
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Russel
Russel is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 16,596 total births registered, 99.9% were male.
Russel as a male name
Ranked #4,522 in 2024
23 male births in 2024
Peak: 1920 (389 births)
Russel as a female name
Ranked #4,373 in 1924
7 female births in 1924
Peak: 1924 (7 births)
Russel: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Russel span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 3,300 babies were registered. Russel has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Russel by Decade
How has Russel 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.
Russel by State
Birth registrations for Russel span all 40 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Pennsylvania, Ohio, California. The lowest are in Massachusetts, Hawaii, Idaho. On average, about 268 Russels were registered per state.
Russel + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Russel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Russel
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
Russel: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Russel?
We estimate approximately 7,475 people named Russel 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 45,853 Americans share this first name.
Is Russel a common name?
Russel is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 97.3% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 16,596 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Russel most popular?
Russel reached peak popularity in 1920, when 394 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Russel is approximately 58 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Russel a male name?
Russel is predominantly male. 99.9% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Russel Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Russel Smith, Russel Johnson, Russel 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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