Murrel vs Murrell
American parents have registered 1,288 Murrells since 1880, against 925 Murrels. Neither name reached five babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Murrel Murrell
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 75 years in which either name was published, Murrell for 57 years and Murrel for 18 years. The lead changed hands 27 times.
- 1902–1912 Murrell ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1916–1918 Murrel ahead
- 1921–1923 Murrell ahead
- 1928–1930 Murrel ahead
- 1931–1992 Murrell ahead, apart from 5 short spells
17 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Murrel | Murrell | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 925 | 1,288 |
| Most in one year | 42 | 48 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 140 | 310 |
| Median age today | 77 | 72 |
| Peak year | 1922 | 1923 |
| Best rank | 1,308th boys | 1,177th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | unranked |
| First recorded | 1898 | 1898 |
| Girls / boys | 189 / 736 | 190 / 1,098 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Murrels alive today are over 77; half the Murrells are over 72. That is 5 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Murrel and Murrell.