US baby names · Girls · 1880–2025
Ethel: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Ethel for a baby girl, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Ethel was one of the 10 most common girls' names in the US in 16 years, between 1888 and 1903, reaching #6. Births peaked in 1918, when 8,075 baby girls were named Ethel, so by peak year it is a Greatest Generation name.
Ethel in the US top 10, by year
Rank among girls' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Ethel (1918).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Lost Generation | 13 (1888–1900) | #6 |
| Greatest Generation | 3 (1901–1903) | #9 |
Questions people ask
When was the name Ethel most popular?
By number of babies, in 1918, when 8,075 girls were given the name. By rank, it reached #6 and spent 16 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Ethel?
Its peak year, 1918, falls in Greatest Generation (1901–1927). Its 16 top-10 years fall in: Lost Generation (13), Greatest Generation (3).
How many people have been named Ethel?
SSA counted 278,922 girls named Ethel born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Ethel are alive today.