girls' name ★ peaked 1918

Hazel

Meaning hazel Gender Girl · 1% boys Rank 2025 #21 Trend ↑ Rising 23%

Hazel is a primarily female given name meaning "hazel", from the name of the tree or the color.

Rank 2025
#21
among girls · ↓2 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
6,342
named Hazel · -2% vs 2024
How common
1 in 254
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1918
7,680 babies
All-time total
305,469
#128 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Hazel popularity over time

305,469 babies have been named Hazel since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
3.757.511.251518801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 3,644 32 3,676 368 – #48
1890s 20,154 119 20,273 2,027 +451% #18
1900s 23,802 189 23,991 2,399 +18% #23
1910s 57,068 561 57,629 5,763 +140% #24
1920s 58,984 643 59,627 5,963 +3% #34
1930s 28,567 471 29,038 2,904 -51% #71
1940s 16,657 301 16,958 1,696 -42% #123
1950s 9,135 148 9,283 928 -45% #219
1960s 3,674 77 3,751 375 -60% #397
1970s 1,489 24 1,513 151 -60% #676
1980s 1,236 5 1,241 124 -18% #1,070
1990s 1,683 12 1,695 170 +37% #916
2000s 5,930 41 5,971 597 +252% #293
2010s 33,919 95 34,014 3,401 +470% #33
2020s (to 2025) 36,638 171 36,809 6,135 +80% #18

Where Hazel is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 6,545 4.07 #20
2027 6,744 4.20 #18
2028 6,919 4.30 #16
2029 7,070 4.40 #15
2030 7,202 4.48 #14

Where Hazel is most popular

Girls named Hazel per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 3.84 per 1,000. Strongest in Wyoming, Vermont, and Alaska.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Hazel born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Wyoming 75 17.6 +359%
Vermont 73 15.1 +293%
Alaska 116 13.5 +251%
Montana 162 12.0 +212%
Idaho 389 11.6 +203%
Maine 174 11.2 +193%
North Dakota 141 10.7 +180%
South Dakota 132 9.25 +141%
Utah 769 9.24 +141%
Oregon 576 8.85 +131%
Nebraska 304 8.46 +120%
Rhode Island 102 8.15 +112%
Iowa 465 7.96 +107%
Minnesota 832 7.71 +101%
New Hampshire 141 7.64 +99%
Arkansas 390 7.38 +92%
West Virginia 192 7.33 +91%
Kansas 408 7.07 +84%
Wisconsin 702 6.82 +78%
Indiana 948 6.75 +76%
Oklahoma 488 6.63 +73%
Missouri 780 6.47 +69%
Washington 914 6.33 +65%
Kentucky 541 6.33 +65%
District of Columbia 74 6.24 +63%
Colorado 687 6.15 +60%
New Mexico 140 5.76 +50%
Mississippi 265 5.66 +48%
Michigan 1,026 5.63 +47%
Alabama 528 5.62 +47%
Tennessee 890 5.62 +46%
Nevada 258 5.55 +45%
Delaware 63 5.55 +45%
Hawaii 63 5.50 +43%
Ohio 1,295 5.46 +42%
Virginia 849 4.98 +30%
South Carolina 422 4.69 +22%
Pennsylvania 1,097 4.64 +21%
Louisiana 392 4.48 +17%
Maryland 473 4.46 +16%
Arizona 623 4.44 +16%
Massachusetts 526 4.35 +13%
North Carolina 969 4.26 +11%
Illinois 969 4.23 +10%
Connecticut 240 4.13 +8%
Georgia 889 3.91 ≈ national
California 3,015 3.59 -6%
Texas 2,761 3.43 -11%
Florida 1,246 2.91 -24%
New York 1,076 2.72 -29%
New Jersey 469 2.60 -32%

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Hazel

Hazel is a top-50 name for girls in the United States, ranked #21 in 2025 with 6,318 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 305,469 American babies have been named Hazel. Its peak came in 1918, when 7,680 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1910s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Hazel stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Hazel?

The median living Hazel is about 9 years old; half are between 4 and 65. An estimated 112 thousand people named Hazel are alive in the United States today.

median 9 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Hazel year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 6,318 #21 24 #4,306
2024 6,432 #19 45 #2,845
2023 6,193 #18 24 #4,386
2022 6,161 #27 28 #3,929
2021 6,015 #28 31 #3,605
2020 5,519 #31 19 #4,921
2019 5,464 #33 6 #11,275
2018 4,951 #42 16 #5,627
2017 5,047 #43 15 #5,898
2016 4,682 #52 17 #5,399
2015 4,302 #63 12 #6,824
2014 2,909 #105 8 #9,084
2013 2,057 #157 6 #11,232
2012 1,785 #173 – –
2011 1,481 #211 8 #9,059
2010 1,241 #264 7 #10,055
2009 1,126 #293 6 #11,500
2008 967 #345 7 #10,269
2007 909 #358 11 #7,277
2006 682 #465 – –
2005 578 #514 – –
2004 404 #683 7 #9,281
2003 385 #681 – –
2002 314 #768 5 #11,320
2001 319 #752 5 #11,200
2000 246 #893 – –
1995 162 #1,098 5 #9,374
1990 145 #1,180 – –
1985 119 #1,187 5 #6,933
1980 132 #1,070 – –
1975 134 #945 – –
1970 235 #676 5 #5,016
1965 343 #515 – –
1960 577 #397 10 #2,756
1955 910 #287 18 #1,871
1950 1,182 #219 17 #1,843
1945 1,439 #164 24 #1,357
1940 2,068 #123 44 #974
1935 2,694 #92 57 #824
1930 3,888 #71 53 #920
1925 5,778 #45 59 #875
1920 7,308 #34 79 #734
1915 7,092 #26 68 #718
1910 3,032 #24 28 #543
1905 2,351 #25 16 #602
1900 2,425 #29 15 #660
1895 2,252 #22 13 #587
1890 1,366 #37 8 #779
1885 281 #105 – –
1880 21 #356 – –

Famous people named Hazel

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Hazel Court Hazel Court English actress (1926–2008) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Hazel, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Hazel?

The median living Hazel is about 9 years old. Half of all living Hazels are between 4 and 65 years old.

How many people named Hazel are alive today?

An estimated 112 thousand people named Hazel are alive in the United States, based on 305,469 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Hazel mean?

Hazel is a primarily female given name meaning "hazel", from the name of the tree or the color.

How popular is the name Hazel in 2025?

Hazel ranked #21 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 6,318 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Hazel?

305,469 babies have been named Hazel in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Hazel most popular?

Hazel peaked in 1918, when 7,680 newborns received the name.

Is Hazel a boy or girl name?

Hazel is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 99% of babies with the name.

Is the name Hazel rising or falling?

Hazel is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Hazel become more popular?

Hazel is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 7,202 girls named Hazel in 2030, which would rank around #14. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Hazel?

Well-known people named Hazel include Hazel Court (actor).

Names like Hazel

Names that sound and feel close to Hazel: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Hazel with similar names → More names starting with H →