Hazel
Masculine · “the hazel tree”
Hazel is given to girls far more often — 302,580 girls against 2,889 boys since 1880. See Hazel as a girl name
Hazel was a men's name in America before it was a women's one — it appears in the records for both sexes around 1900, and the tree is where it comes from.
How old is the name Hazel?
Hazel first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Hazel alive today was born around 1928, making them about 97 years old. About 700 people named Hazel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hazel most popular?
Hazel peaked in 1904, reaching #431 nationally. Today it ranks #4249, 3,818 places below that high. See the whole 1904 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From haesel to Hazel
The story of Hazel
The forked hazel rod is the standard tool of water divining across Europe, which is a use recorded for centuries and never explained. The wood also coppices better than almost anything, which made it the most-managed small tree in medieval England. Hazel entered American naming in the 1880s for both sexes and had become almost entirely a women's name by the 1920s.
Meaning
the hazel tree
From Old English haesel, the hazel; the wood is the traditional material for a dowsing rod, for hurdles and for walking sticks, and the nut gave its name to the eye color rather than the other way round.
How the name formed
- haesel
- Hazel
Related forms: Hasel · Hazell
Pronouncing Hazel
HAY-zul
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Hazel
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
- 1886
- Most boys named
- 191979 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #431reached in 1904
- Change vs 2023
- 0.0%24 in 2025, from 24
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.
Hazel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Hasel in German — related form
- Hazell in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Maryland.
Hazels among us
people named Hazel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 71,170 born in 2025 was named Hazel
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
Hazel 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
Hazel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Hazel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning tied to a real and genuinely useful tree.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Genuine turn-of-the-century American use for men.
- It is now overwhelmingly a women's name and he will correct assumptions.
- Hazel is very widely used for girls now, which makes the crossover sharper.
- The eye color is the first association for many Americans.
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Hazel
Masculine · #4249 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Hazels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Hazel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hazel in 2025?
- Hazel ranks #4249 among US boy names in 2025, with 24 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Hazel?
- About 1 in every 71,170 US boys born in 2025 was named Hazel — 24 in all.
- Will my child share the name Hazel with classmates?
- Hazel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Hazel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Guadalupe#4249 · Denny#4249 · Hughes#4249 · Erling#4249 · Rodrick#4249 · Elric#4249 · Ron#4249 · Wright#4249
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hazel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Hazel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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