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Cornell

#6,190 in 2025Boys' name

English surname transferred into given-name use

Cornell has been given to 11,695 babies in the U.S. since 1890. In 2025 it ranked #6,190 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1962, with 241 recorded.

Babies named Cornell, 2025

1 in 237,000

Cornell over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Cornell: meaning, origin, and history

English surname transferred into given-name use

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Cornell means

Cornell is a given name.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Cornell is used in English.

Another recorded pronunciation is /kɔɹ.ˈnɛl/ and /kɔː.ˈnɛl/ for Cornell.

The naming story behind Cornell

Cornell is a given name adopted from English surname. This establishes the immediate naming route. A surname transfer is different from a direct translation of the modern given-name spelling; the family name may have its own earlier derivation.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Cornwall, spelling conflated with the Latin family name Cornelius.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Cornell (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 11,347 boys were recorded with the name Cornell between 1890 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 241 in 1962; its best national rank was #477 in 1952.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,145 in 2020 to #6,190 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,609 in 2015 to #6,190 in 2025.

In the United States, 348 girls were recorded with the name Cornell between 1915 and 1973. Its highest annual count was 14 in 1952; its best national rank was #2,569 in 1915.

How common is Cornell?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 237,000
14 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 122,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#6,190
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
164,137 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Cornell sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 164,137 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Cornell. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Cornells were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Cornell was born before 1967 — so the typical Cornell is around 58 today.

Median birth year
1967
About 58 years old
Biggest decade
1950s
17.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
12.1%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
9,020
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1950s — 17.7% of all recorded uses (2,011).

Is Cornell rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−1,733
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−3,045
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−3,581
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.30×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
5.8%
Peak was 1962 (241)
Years since peak
63
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
22.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#477
1952

Spellings of Cornell

Cornell is not the most common spelling — Darnell is, with 26.5% against Cornell's 10.5%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Cornell is used

Across 1910–2025, Cornell was most concentrated in District of Columbia — about 1 in 3,571 boys, against 1 in 19,638 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

028 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1District of Columbia1 in 3,571
  2. 2Louisiana1 in 4,167
  3. 3South Carolina1 in 6,667
  4. 4Maryland1 in 9,091
  5. 5Illinois1 in 10,000
  6. 6Mississippi1 in 12,500
  7. 7Virginia1 in 12,500
  8. 8Michigan1 in 14,286

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Cornell has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Cornell around the world

Where Cornell ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1997–2012
    #3,416
    in 2012
  • Canada
    1992–1992
    #1,136
    in 1992
  • South Australia
    1961–1999
    #539
    in 1999

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Cornell

People whose public names include Cornell, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Cornell by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#6,190
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 3,045
Best rank ever
#477
1952
Peak year
1962
241 that year
First recorded
1890
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
11,347
Count in 2025
14

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,569
1915
Peak year
1952
14 that year
First recorded
1915
Last recorded
1973
All-time count
348
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Cornell

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

CordellCortezCortneyRandellDonnellCorbettJerrellCorwinCorderoCormacCorbanDerrellCorrellCorbinCorbynMarcellKendellMarkellCarnellDarnellJarrellLatrellTyrellCortland

Names with a curve like Cornell

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Cornell, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

MichelDanialKirbyJoesphBlairSheltonReggieCareyDonnyCliffGarthRandell

Sibling names for Cornell

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Cornell

Top names of 1962, Cornell's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1952Boys' names starting with C