Liesel
Feminine · “my God is an oath”
Liesel is German affection at work on a very long name. Elisabeth is Hebrew and formal; German cut it back to Lies and added the diminutive -el, producing something small, warm and entirely different in register from the name it came from. The whole family works this way: Lieschen, Liesl, Liesel, Elke.
How old is the name Liesel?
Liesel first appears in US birth records in 1954 — 71 years ago. The typical Liesel alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 1,200 people named Liesel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Liesel most popular?
Liesel peaked in 2015, reaching #2773 nationally. Today it ranks #4758, 1,985 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Elisheva to Liesel
The story of Liesel
Elisabeth belongs to the mother of John the Baptist and, through a Hungarian princess who became one of the great medieval saints, to central Europe in particular. German-speaking families shortened it in every direction: Lisa, Lise, Liesl, Liesel, Betti, Elke. Liesel is the Austrian and southern German form, and it came to American records with German-speaking immigrants. English-speaking families now meet it mostly through fiction, since two very widely read stories have given the name to girls, which is why it appears in records with no German connection at all.
Meaningscholars disagree
my God is an oath
Through Elisabeth from Hebrew Elisheva: El, God, with sheva, an oath, or possibly seven, which in Hebrew shares the root and carries a sense of fullness. My God is abundance is the competing reading. The diminutive carries whichever the full name does.
How the name formed
- Elisheva
- Elisabeth
- Liesl
- Liesel
Related forms: Liesl · Elizabeth · Lies · Lisbet · Erzsébet
Pronouncing Liesel
LEE-zul
Two syllables, stress in front, the s said as a z. English speakers sometimes say LY-sel with a long i; the German reading is the one the name came with.
Nicknames for Liesel
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
- 1954
- Most girls named
- 201563 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2773reached in 2015
- Change vs 2024
- +27.3%28 in 2025, from 22
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.
Liesel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Liesl in German — spelling variant
- Elizabeth in English — related form
- Lies in Dutch — related form
- Lisbet in Swedish — related form
- Erzsébet in Hungarian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Minnesota, Ohio.
Liesels among us
people named Liesel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 57,402 born in 2025 was named Liesel
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Takeya test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Liesel's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Takeya climbed just as high around 1981, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Takeya's path sketches the road Liesel is walking now.
Liesel 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 Liesel is headed
Liesel is easing off slowly — about 21% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Liesel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Liesel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is affectionate by construction, which is unusual in a name given as a full one.
- Elizabeth stands behind it as a formal option with an enormous documented history.
- Two syllables and six letters keep it easy to write and to say.
- Liesl and Liesel are both standard in German, so families do not always agree on the spelling.
- English readers reach for a long i in the first syllable and have to be corrected.
- Its best-known bearers are fictional, so the name arrives with stories attached.
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What they receive
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Liesel
Feminine · #4758 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Liesels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Liesel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Liesel in 2025?
- Liesel ranks #4758 among US girl names in 2025, with 28 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Liesel?
- About 1 in every 57,402 US girls born in 2025 was named Liesel — 28 in all.
- Will my child share the name Liesel with classmates?
- Liesel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Liesel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Marylou#4758 · Landon#4758 · Lexa#4758 · Alysia#4758 · Ixchel#4758 · Parisa#4758 · Jumana#4758 · Berenice#4758
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Liesel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Liesel and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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