Hurshel
Masculine · “A deer”
Hurshel is a phonetic respelling of a Yiddish name about a deer, and the name's most famous bearers found a planet and then tried to name it after a king.
How old is the name Hurshel?
Hurshel first appears in US birth records in 1904 — 121 years ago. The typical Hurshel alive today was born around 1929, making them about 96 years old. About 200 people named Hurshel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Hurshel most popular?
Hurshel peaked in 1907, reaching #999 nationally. See the whole 1907 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Hirsch to Hurshel
The story of Hurshel
William Herschel, a musician who built his own telescopes, found a new planet from a garden in Bath and proposed calling it after the reigning king — Georgium Sidus, the Georgian star. Astronomers outside Britain were unenthusiastic, and after decades of argument the name that stuck was the Greek one everybody else preferred. His sister Caroline worked beside him for fifty years, discovered comets in her own right, and was eventually paid for the work. The name in this spelling reached America with Yiddish-speaking families, by a completely separate road from the German astronomers, and the two are the same word.
Meaning
A deer
The Yiddish name is built on the word for a deer with an affectionate ending, and it is one of a set of Jewish names paired with Hebrew ones — this one travels with Naftali, because of a blessing that compares that tribe to a deer.
How the name formed
- Hirsch
- Hershel
- Hurshel
Related forms: Hershel · Hirsch
Pronouncing Hurshel
HUR-shul
Two syllables, stress at the front. The u spelling records the American pronunciation of the first vowel.
Nicknames for Hurshel
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
- 1904
- Most boys named
- 192133 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #999reached in 1907
- Change vs 1966
- −37.5%5 in 1987, from 8
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.
Hurshel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Hershel in Yiddish — same name
- Hirsch in German — related form
Hurshels among us
people named Hurshel are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Hurshel sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The meaning is concrete and pleasant.
- It is read correctly on sight.
- It carries a real tradition of paired Hebrew and Yiddish names.
- Hershel and Herschel are both standard and his will be written as one of them.
- The name is strongly marked as Jewish, which is either the point or a consideration.
- It is closely tied to an older American generation.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Hurshel to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Hurshel? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Hurshel
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Hurshels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Hurshel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Hurshel in 2025?
- Hurshel is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Hurshel with classmates?
- Hurshel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More H names
The most-given names starting with H, all years combined.
Henry#5 · Harold#991 · Harry#775 · Howard#1002 · Hunter#130 · Herbert#2641 · Herman#2363 · Harvey#251
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Hurshel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Hurshel and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle