Mendel
Masculine · “comforter”
Mendel is a Yiddish affectionate form of Menachem — comforter — and it belongs to the monk who founded genetics with a garden of pea plants.
How old is the name Mendel?
Mendel first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Mendel alive today was born around 2005, making them about 20 years old. About 2,600 people named Mendel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mendel most popular?
Mendel peaked in 1956, reaching #1511 nationally. Today it ranks #1837, 326 places below that high. See the whole 1956 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From nacham to Mendel
The story of Mendel
Menachem means comforter and the Yiddish Mendel is its everyday form; Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, carried both. Separately, Gregor Mendel crossed pea plants at Brno from 1856 and founded genetics, though nobody noticed for thirty-five years. The name appears in American records in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
comforter
Usually a Yiddish diminutive of Menachem, from the Hebrew nacham, 'to comfort'. A second route derives it from the German Mann with a diminutive. Both are documented. Gregor Mendel's surname is separately Czech-German and unrelated to the Yiddish name.
How the name formed
- nacham
- Menachem
- Mendel
Related forms: מענדל · Menachem · Mendel
Pronouncing Mendel
MEN-dul
Two syllables, stress on the first. Yiddish says it the same way.
Nicknames for Mendel
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 2023104 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1511reached in 1956
- Change vs 2023
- −17.3%86 in 2025, from 104
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.
Mendel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- מענדל in Yiddish — transliteration
- Menachem in Hebrew — related form
- Mendel in German — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, New Jersey, Florida.
Mendels among us
people named Mendel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 19,861 born in 2025 was named Mendel
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 Laroy test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mendel's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Laroy climbed just as high around 1932, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Laroy's path sketches the road Mendel is walking now.
Mendel 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 Mendel is headed
Mendel looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 21% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Mendel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mendel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The comforter meaning is transparent and undisputed for the Menachem route.
- The founder of genetics carries the surname, by a separate route.
- Menachem is available as a full formal version.
- The origin is somewhat split between Hebrew and German routes.
- It is closely associated with Hasidic naming practice.
- As a diminutive on the certificate it carries an informal register.
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Mendel
Masculine · #1837 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mendels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,600 people named Mendel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mendel in 2025?
- Mendel ranks #1837 among US boy names in 2025, with 86 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mendel?
- About 1 in every 19,861 US boys born in 2025 was named Mendel — 86 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mendel with classmates?
- Mendel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mendel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Olin#1837 · Aariz#1837 · Nile#1837 · Stephan#1837 · Lonnie#1837 · Artemis#1837 · Kennedy#1837 · Atreyu#1837
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mendel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mendel 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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