Name Awesome

Estel

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Estel has been given to 2,841 babies in the U.S. since 1893. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1921, with 87 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 84% boys, 16% girls all-time.

Babies named Estel, 1981

1 in 692,000

Estel over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Estel over time

In 2023, Estel went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

18932023

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Estel: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Estel means

Estel is a given name.

The naming story behind Estel

Wikidata records Estel as a female given name. The entity identifier is Q42689377, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,374 boys were recorded with the name Estel between 1893 and 1981. Its highest annual count was 87 in 1921; its best national rank was #644 in 1905.

In the United States, 467 girls were recorded with the name Estel between 1898 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 23 in 1916; its best national rank was #1,198 in 1898.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Estel?

Estel had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1981, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1981
1 in 692,000
5 of 3,459,130 births
Among boys only
1 in 358,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 1981
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
479,538 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Estel 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 1981 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 479,538 children born in 1981 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Estel. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Estels were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Estel was born before 1928 — so the typical Estel is around 97 today.

Median birth year
1928
About 97 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
29.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
8.7%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
344
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 29.1% of all recorded uses (690).

Is Estel 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1921 (87)
Years since peak
104
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
30.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#644
1905

Spellings of Estel

Estel is not the most common spelling — Lester is, with 77.6% against Estel's 1.4%.

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 Estel is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Estel was most concentrated in Kentucky — about 1 in 11,111 boys, against 1 in 60,313 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

09 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Kentucky1 in 11,111
  2. 2West Virginia1 in 12,500
  3. 3Tennessee1 in 20,000
  4. 4Indiana1 in 33,333
  5. 5Missouri1 in 33,333
  6. 6Arkansas1 in 100,000
  7. 7Kansas1 in 100,000
  8. 8Ohio1 in 100,000

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. Estel has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Estel is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Estel was most concentrated in Arkansas — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 1,403,185 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Arkansas1 in —
  2. 2Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Estel has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Estel around the world

Where Estel 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
    2025–2025
    #3,705
    in 2025
  • France
    1964–2022
    #6,586
    in 2022
  • Canada
    2020–2024
    #3,457
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1987–2011
    #840
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Estel by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#644
1905
Peak year
1921
87 that year
First recorded
1893
Last recorded
1981
All-time count
2,374
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,198
1898
Peak year
1916
23 that year
First recorded
1898
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
467
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Estel

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

EstonEstilEsterEstenMartelMontelEstleEstillEstesEstevanEstherEstefanEstellEstivenEstusEstuardoEstinEstevenEstebanKartelEstolEstalEstefanoEstaban

Names with a curve like Estel

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

NorvalBerylArvelHillardMilburnVirgleVerlMerlNortonClaireEwellOrland

Sibling names for Estel

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 Estel

Top names of 1921, Estel's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1905Boys' names starting with E