Ansel
Masculine · “God + helmet”
Ansel is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 4,801 boys against 10 girls since 1880.
Ansel is the short, worn-down English form of Anselm, a name carried by an eleventh-century archbishop of Canterbury and by monks and merchants across medieval Europe. Two syllables, six letters, no silent traps — it lands cleanly in the mouth and stays put. It has been on American birth records since the nineteenth century without ever crowding a classroom.
How old is the name Ansel?
Ansel first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Ansel alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 3,600 people named Ansel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ansel most popular?
Ansel peaked in 1893, reaching #538 nationally. Today it ranks #1138, 600 places below that high. See the whole 1893 chart.
Where it comes from
From Ansehelm to Ansel
The story of Ansel
The name began as Old High German Ansehelm and was Latinized as Anselmus, spreading through the medieval church — Anselm of Canterbury, born in Aosta in the eleventh century, is the bearer who fixed it in European memory. Norman French speakers wore it down to Anceau and Ancel, and it arrived in England both as a given name and, in time, as a surname. Ansel is that clipped English form, and it has run alongside the fuller Anselm ever since, sometimes as a nickname and sometimes as a name in its own right. In the United States it has appeared on birth records since the nineteenth century, never in great numbers and never quite absent either.
Meaning
God + helmet, protection
From the Germanic elements ans, referring to a god or deity, and helm, a helmet or protection. The sense usually given is 'divine protection'.
How the name formed
- Ansehelm
- Anselmus
- Anselme
- Ancel
- Ansel
Related forms: Anselm · Anselmo · Anselmo · Anselme · Anselmus · Ansell
Pronouncing Ansel
AN-sul
Stress on the first syllable, with the a of cat. German and Italian speakers meeting the fuller Anselm or Anselmo will put the stress differently, but the English two-syllable version is consistent.
Nicknames for Ansel
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
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 2025186 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #538reached in 1893
- Change vs 2022
- +27.4%186 in 2025, from 146
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.
Ansel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anselm in German — related form
- Anselmo in Italian — related form
- Anselmo in Spanish — related form
- Anselme in French — related form
- Anselmus in Latin — related form
- Ansell in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Ansels among us
people named Ansel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 9,183 born in 2025 was named Ansel
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Ansel 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
Where Ansel is headed
Ansel should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Ansel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ansel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds in English: two syllables, no silent letters, nothing to correct after the first hearing.
- A documented line running back through medieval Anselm to Old High German, so the name has centuries behind it rather than a recent invention.
- Recognizable relatives in German, Italian, Spanish and French, which helps it travel in a mixed-language family.
- Familiar in sound without being common in practice — most Ansels go through school without meeting another.
- For many American ears the name arrives attached to the photographer Ansel Adams. That association is warm rather than awkward, but it is close to automatic, and it may be the first thing people say.
- Ansel, Ansell and Ancel all exist, and Anselm sits behind all of them. Expect a certain amount of spelling out, and the occasional person who hears Angel or Andell.
- Because it is uncommon, there is no established playground nickname waiting for it — Anse and Ans exist, but a family largely decides what happens to the name in daily use.
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What they receive
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Ansel
Masculine · #1138 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ansels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,600 people named Ansel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ansel in 2025?
- Ansel ranks #1138 among US boy names in 2025, with 186 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ansel?
- About 1 in every 9,183 US boys born in 2025 was named Ansel — 186 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ansel with classmates?
- Ansel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ansel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Stellan#1138 · Isai#1138 · Lazarus#1141 · Zen#1141 · Adiel#1141 · Cain#1141 · Atharv#1132 · Carl#1132
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ansel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ansel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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