Hansel
Masculine · “God is gracious”
Hansel is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 3,631 boys against 5 girls since 1880.
Hansel is little Hans — the German diminutive of Johannes — and the fairy tale attached to it is one of the darkest in the whole Grimm collection.
How old is the name Hansel?
Hansel first appears in US birth records in 1905 — 120 years ago. The typical Hansel alive today was born around 1988, making them about 37 years old. About 2,500 people named Hansel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hansel most popular?
Hansel peaked in 1905, reaching #919 nationally. Today it ranks #1634, 715 places below that high. See the whole 1905 chart.
Hansel appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Yochanan to Hansel
The story of Hansel
The Grimms published Hänsel und Gretel in 1812, a story of famine, abandonment and a child pushing a woman into an oven — collected from oral tradition and probably older than the great famines it is sometimes linked to. Hansel is a genuine German diminutive independent of the tale. It appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
God is gracious
Through Hans, the German short form of Johannes, from the Hebrew Yochanan — Yah, the divine name, and chanan, 'he was gracious'. The -el is a German diminutive suffix. The Hebrew is ordinary and the meaning undisputed; Hansel is simply Little John.
How the name formed
- Yochanan
- Johannes
- Hans
- Hänsel
Related forms: Hänsel · Hans · John
Pronouncing Hansel
HAN-sul
Two syllables, stress on the first. German Hänsel has a fronted first vowel English does not use.
Nicknames for Hansel
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
- 1905
- Most boys named
- 2025103 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #919reached in 1905
- Change vs 2023
- +5.1%103 in 2025, from 98
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.
Hansel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Hänsel in German — same name
- Hans in German — related form
- John in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Hansels among us
people named Hansel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 16,583 born in 2025 was named Hansel
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
Hansel 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 Hansel is headed
Hansel should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Hansel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Hansel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is a complete statement and is undisputed.
- It belongs to the largest name family in European history.
- Hans is available as a full form with real standing across Germanic Europe.
- The fairy tale association is total and the story is a grim one.
- It reads as strongly and specifically German.
- The German umlaut is dropped in English, which changes the vowel.
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What they receive
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Hansel
Masculine · #1634 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Hansels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,500 people named Hansel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hansel in 2025?
- Hansel ranks #1634 among US boy names in 2025, with 103 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hansel?
- About 1 in every 16,583 US boys born in 2025 was named Hansel — 103 in all.
- Will my child share the name Hansel with classmates?
- Hansel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Hansel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Granger#1634 · Jyaire#1634 · Hiram#1634 · Armaan#1634 · Lester#1634 · Guy#1634 · Yoel#1634 · Linkin#1634
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hansel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Hansel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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