Travell
Masculine
The doubled l is doing important work here: it keeps the name from being read as an ordinary English verb. Behind it sits the surname Travis, which was a job — the man who took the toll where a road crossed a river or a boundary. The French word for crossing is behind both the surname and, by a longer route, the word for going anywhere at all.
How old is the name Travell?
Travell first appears in US birth records in 1968 — 57 years ago. The typical Travell alive today was born around 1997, making them about 28 years old. About 800 people named Travell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Travell most popular?
Travell peaked in 1988, reaching #2255 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 9,753 places below that high. See the whole 1988 chart.
Where it comes from
From traverser to Travell
The story of Travell
Toll collection at bridges, fords and gates was a real medieval office, and English surnames record a great many such jobs — Toller, Gateman, Bridger, Travis. The Travis line reached America and became a common first name in the twentieth century, at which point the endings started multiplying: Travon, Travell, Travelle, Travar. The -ell version has the advantage of a real English word's shape without being that word, since the second l is what separates Travell from travel on paper. In speech nothing separates them at all.
Meaningscholars disagree
one who collects the toll at a crossing
If the name is read through Travis, the derivation is documented: Old French traverser, to cross, used as an occupational name for the collector at a toll point. If it was built from Trav- and the -ell ending that American naming used so freely, then no meaning attaches. Both readings fit the period in which the name appears.
How the name formed
- traverser
- Travis
- Travell
Related forms: Travers
Pronouncing Travell
truh-VELL
Two syllables with the stress at the back, which the doubled l signals. Some families say TRAV-ell with the weight in front, matching the English word; both are heard.
Nicknames for Travell
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
- 1968
- Most boys named
- 199434 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2255reached in 1988
- Change vs 2024
- −50.0%5 in 2025, from 10
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.
Travell in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Travers in French — related form
Travells among us
people named Travell are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Travell
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 Benno test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Travell's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Benno climbed just as high around 1916, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Benno's path sketches the road Travell is walking now.
Travell 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
Travell beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Travell in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Trav is available and is already a familiar short form in American use.
- The doubled l distinguishes it in writing from a very common English word.
- It is uncommon while sounding entirely at home among names people know.
- In speech it is indistinguishable from the word travel, and the jokes will find it.
- Travelle, Travel and Travell all appear in records, so the spelling is a permanent footnote.
- The stress is unsettled, and a child will hear the name both ways.
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What they receive
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Travell
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Travells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Travell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Travell in 2025?
- Travell ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Travell?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Travell — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Travell with classmates?
- Travell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Travell
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Garfield#12008 · Chas#12008 · Lew#12008 · Barney#12008 · Dewitt#12008 · Granville#12008 · Cicero#12008 · Willam#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Travell? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Travell and another name?
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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