Norvell
Masculine · “North field”
Norvell is given to both — 1,158 boys and 117 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Norvell doubles an l that the Scottish form leaves single, and the two names may or may not be the same word. Norval is a place name and a stage name; Norvell is a surname from the north of England; and whether one produced the other has never been settled.
How old is the name Norvell?
Norvell first appears in US birth records in 1905 — 120 years ago. The typical Norvell alive today was born around 1946, making them about 79 years old. About 600 people named Norvell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Norvell most popular?
Norvell peaked in 1905, reaching #1233 nationally. See the whole 1905 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Norvell
The two spellings have separate careers. The single-l form belongs to a Scottish play of the seventeen-fifties whose hero introduces himself in a speech that became the standard recitation piece in English and American schoolrooms for a century and a half, so that generations of children could produce the opening lines on demand without any idea what the play was about. The double-l form is a surname, attested in English records independently, and it is the one that turns up in American birth registers as a given name. They are said the same way and look nearly alike, and everything about their relationship depends on documents that nobody has produced.
Meaningscholars disagree
North field
The likeliest reading joins a word for north to one for a field or open ground, describing a piece of land rather than a person. Other accounts derive the surname from a Norman place. Neither has been demonstrated, and the doubled l in this spelling is an English addition that changes nothing.
Pronouncing Norvell
nor-VEL
Two syllables with the stress at the back, which is where the doubled l puts it. Some families say NOR-vul with the weight at the front, and the spelling does not decide.
Nicknames for Norvell
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
- 1905
- Most boys named
- 194127 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1233reached in 1905
- Change vs 2007
- −14.3%6 in 2012, 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.
Norvells among us
people named Norvell 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
Norvell 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
- Short, firm and easy to say once the stress is settled.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- It is genuinely uncommon while containing nothing unfamiliar.
- The record carries it for girls as well as boys, so it signals nothing on a form.
- Two stress patterns are current and the spelling settles neither.
- It reads as a surname and will be entered in the wrong column on forms.
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What they receive
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Norvell
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Norvells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Norvell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Norvell in 2025?
- Norvell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Norvell with classmates?
- Norvell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More N names
The most-given names starting with N, all years combined.
Nicholas#112 · Nathan#63 · Noah#2 · Nathaniel#140 · Norman#1196 · Nolan#65 · Neil#850 · Nicolas#177
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Norvell? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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