Macel
Feminine
Macel is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 821 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Macel comes from the first years of the American birth record, and it is recorded for boys and for girls alike. It sits in a family of short names built on a light, unstressed -el ending, with Ethel, Mabel, Hazel and Muriel on one side and Marcel and Ansel on the other, and it has never settled which side it belongs to.
How old is the name Macel?
Macel first appears in US birth records in 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Macel alive today was born around 1924, making them about 101 years old. About 100 people named Macel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Macel most popular?
Macel peaked in 1909, reaching #961 nationally. See the whole 1909 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Macel
Around the turn of the twentieth century American parents were unusually fond of a light -el at the end of a short name. Ethel, Mabel, Hazel and Muriel were all near their height together, and the ending had become productive enough that new names could be made with it and pass without remark. Macel arrives in exactly that company. It could be Mabel with one letter altered, or Marcella cut short, or Marcel written down by ear in a county where nobody had seen it printed, or simply a name built to fit the fashion of the moment. The record lists it without comment and supports all four possibilities equally. What it does show is that the name was given for a couple of generations, and then, along with most of that -el family, quietly stopped being given.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No origin has been documented. Mabel, Marcella and Marcel are all near neighbors in sound and each has been proposed as the source; none has been shown to be one.
Pronouncing Macel
MAY-sul
Most often MAY-sul with the stress in front, though MASS-ul is also heard. The name is old enough and rare enough that no single saying has won.
Nicknames for Macel
Limited
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
- 1900
- Most girls named
- 191737 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #961reached in 1909
- Change vs 1951
- 0.0%6 in 1959, from 6
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.
Macels among us
people named Macel 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
Macel 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
- It is short, easy to write, and has no silent letters that need explaining.
- It is recorded for boys and for girls, so it does not force a decision on anyone reading it.
- It belongs to a real and datable period of American naming, which gives it a place in time even without an etymology.
- Two pronunciations are in circulation and neither has won, so the name will be said back to you both ways.
- The spelling is recorded for a few boys, but nearly every child with it is a girl.
- People meeting it for the first time will read it as a misspelling of Mabel or Marcel and some of them will say so.
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Macel
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Macels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Macel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Macel in 2025?
- Macel is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Macel with classmates?
- Macel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Macel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Macel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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