Muriel
Masculine
Muriel is given to girls far more often — 54,884 girls against 762 boys since 1880. See Muriel as a girl name
Muriel is an old name from the Celtic west, recorded here for boys as well as girls. Its best-known modern bearer wrote a short novel very quickly and then spent the rest of a long career being asked about that one book.
How old is the name Muriel?
Muriel first appears in US birth records in 1906 — 119 years ago. The typical Muriel alive today was born around 1929, making them about 96 years old. About 100 people named Muriel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Muriel most popular?
Muriel peaked in 1907, reaching #1094 nationally. See the whole 1907 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Muriel
Muriel Spark wrote twenty-two novels, and the one everybody knows is the short one about an Edinburgh schoolmistress who grooms a set of favored pupils into her own image and comes to a bad end. She wrote it fast, it was published in a magazine entire, and it turned into a play, a film and a television series within a decade. She was unsentimental about all of it. Her other books are stranger and in several cases better, and she went on producing them into her eighties from a village in Tuscany, writing in longhand in notebooks bought from one particular stationer in Edinburgh, which she had sent out to her.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name is generally traced to an Irish or Breton compound and the elements are reasonably clear, but the route into English use is tangled and the record holds this spelling for both sexes without explaining either fact.
Pronouncing Muriel
MYOOR-ee-ul
Three syllables with the stress in front. Some speakers reduce it to two, and both are current.
Nicknames for Muriel
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
- 1906
- Most boys named
- 192637 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1094reached in 1907
- Change vs 1961
- −28.6%5 in 1966, from 7
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.
Muriel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Muirgheal in Irish — related form
- Muriel in French — same name
Muriels among us
people named Muriel 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
Muriel 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 has a documented history in English going back many centuries.
- It is read correctly at first sight by nearly everybody.
- It is recorded for boys and for girls, so it leaves a question open rather than closing it.
- In America it reads as belonging to a much older generation, which is either the appeal or the obstacle.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls but is recorded for boys as well, so a form will occasionally guess wrong.
- The novel association is strong for readers, and the character in it is not a good person.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Muriel 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 Muriel? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Muriel
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Muriels 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 Muriel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Muriel in 2025?
- Muriel is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Muriel with classmates?
- Muriel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Michael#21 · Matthew#32 · Mark#244 · Mason#39 · Martin#335 · Marvin#699 · Melvin#958 · Marcus#258
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Muriel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Muriel 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