Ursel

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Form of Ursula

Ursel has been given to 21 babies in the U.S. since 1915. 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 1915, with 6 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 76% girls, 24% boys all-time.

Babies named Ursel, 1957

1 in 840,000

Ursel over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 1957, Ursel went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19151957

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.

Ursel: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Ursula

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Ursel means

Ursel is a form of Ursula.

Origin, language, and formation

Ursel is used in German.

Ursel comes through Middle High German Ursele and Latin Ursula.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ursula.

Pronunciation and spelling

In German, Ursel is pronounced /ˈʊʁzəl/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 16 girls were recorded with the name Ursel between 1915 and 1957. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1915; its best national rank was #4,227 in 1915.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Ursel between 1917 and 1917. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1917; its best national rank was #4,547 in 1917.

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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Ursel?

Ursel had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1957, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1957: 1 in 840,000; 5 of 4,201,368 births
Among girls only: 1 in 409,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 1957: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 582,434 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Ursel sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1957 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 582,434 children born in 1957 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ursel. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ursels were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ursel was born before 1918 — so the typical Ursel is around 107 today.

Median birth year: 1918; About 107 years old
Biggest decade: 1910s; 68.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 31.3%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 5; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1910s — 68.8% of all recorded uses (11).

Is Ursel 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 1915 (6)
Years since peak: 110; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Not enough data; Too few years
Best rank ever: #4,227; 1915

Spellings of Ursel

Ursel is not the most common spelling — Ariel is, with 50.0% against Ursel's 0.01%.

Ariel50.0%78,697
Muriel34.9%54,884
Ursula9.4%14,811
Gisel1.5%2,283
Grisel1.1%1,671
Yisel0.56%877
Auriel0.55%870
Briel0.46%724

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.

Ursel around the world

Where Ursel 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.

France
1943–1943
#1,044
in 1943

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Ursel by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #4,227; 1915
Peak year: 1915; 6 that year
First recorded: 1915
Last recorded: 1957
All-time count: 16
Count in 2025: Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #4,547; 1917
Peak year: 1917; 5 that year
First recorded: 1917
Last recorded: 1917
All-time count: 5
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Ursel

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

Ursla Ursa Zisel Misel Ursela Gysel Rosel Issel Asel Ansel Ursule Aisel Maisel Ursulla Heysel Dessel Jasel Earsel Susel Icsel Jesel Russel Gessel Crisel

Sibling names for Ursel

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

For a sister

Golda Lauretta Era Leatha Leone Mayme Artie Alpha

For a brother

Gustave Waldo Orrin Winfield Dorsey Isadore Aloysius Hyman

Explore around Ursel

Top names of 1915, Ursel's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1915 Girls' names starting with U