Annelle
Feminine · “little grace”
The silent e at the end of an English word is a dead vowel. It was pronounced in Chaucer's day, stopped being said around 1400, and printers kept writing it anyway — then quietly repurposed it to mark the long vowel in hate and hope. A name ending in one is carrying a syllable nobody has said for six hundred years.
How old is the name Annelle?
Annelle first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Annelle alive today was born around 1947, making them about 78 years old. About 600 people named Annelle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Annelle most popular?
Annelle peaked in 1947, reaching #1602 nationally. Today it ranks #11932, 10,330 places below that high. See the whole 1947 chart.
Where it comes from
From Hannah to Annelle
The story of Annelle
English has two versions of the same Latin diminutive, and they came in by different doors: -elle from French and -ella from Italian, both from Latin -ella, both meaning little. French pronounces its ending, with the weight on it; Italian gives the ending a full final vowel; English, which silences final e as a matter of habit, ends up saying the French version as a stressed syllable and the Italian one with an extra beat. That is why Annelle and Annella sound like different names despite being the same construction twice. The final e in this spelling is one of the few in English that is not silent at all, which makes it an exception to the rule that created it.
Meaning
little grace
Anne is Hebrew Hannah, grace or favor, by way of Greek and Latin. The -elle ending is the French diminutive, the same one in Michelle and Danielle; the Italian equivalent is -ella. Both descend from the same Latin ending and neither adds a meaning beyond smallness or affection.
How the name formed
- Hannah
- Anne
- Annelle
Related forms: Annelle · Annette
Pronouncing Annelle
uh-NELL
Two syllables, stress on the second, with the final e sounded as part of it. This is one of the rare English words where a final e is not silent, because the ending is French rather than native.
Nicknames for Annelle
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 194735 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1602reached in 1947
- Change vs 2023
- −56.3%7 in 2025, from 16
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Annelle in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Annelle in French — same name
- Annette in French — related form
Annelles among us
people named Annelle are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 229,610 born in 2025 was named Annelle
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Annelle
- #11932
- Annelle on the 2025 chart
- #947
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Annelle went to 7 girls in 2025, but Anele is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 13, which makes it the 947th most-given girls’ name of the year — 10,985 places above the chart.
- Annelle7
- Anele6
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 229,610 for Annelle itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Maryelizabeth test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Annelle's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Maryelizabeth climbed just as high around 1913, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Maryelizabeth's path sketches the road Annelle is walking now.
Annelle sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Annelle beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Annelle in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Both parts are documented and the ending is a real French diminutive.
- Three short forms, all of which are full names of their own.
- Two syllables with an unmistakable stress, so nobody has to guess.
- Anelle, Annell and Annelle are all recorded and none is standard.
- It is strongly represented among older generations and carries the middle of the last century.
- It will be heard as a shortening of Annabelle by people meeting it for the first time.
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What they receive
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Annelle
Feminine · #11932 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Annelles are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Annelle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Annelle?
- Annelle is the most-used spelling in US records — 7 of the 13 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Anele.
- How popular is the name Annelle in 2025?
- Annelle ranks #11932 among US girl names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Annelle?
- About 1 in every 229,610 US girls born in 2025 was named Annelle — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Annelle with classmates?
- Annelle will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Annelle
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vina#11932 · Retta#11932 · Missouri#11932 · Iola#11932 · Eddie#11932 · Thomas#11932 · Louetta#11932 · Elvina#11932
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Annelle? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Annelle and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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