Axl
A masculine Scandinavian name meaning "father of peace" or "peaceful ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 4,183 living Americans carry the first name Axl. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Axl today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Axl births was 2019 (377 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Axl. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Axl with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Axl is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.2K
~ 1 in 81,940 Americans
Peak year
2019
377 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,027
Tracked since 1988
Census
Axl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,541 people with the first name Axl, which placed it at #6,347 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,347
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,541 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Axl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Axl is White at 62.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.8%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Axl described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Axl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.5% · 1,587
- Hispanic or Latino25.8% · 655
- Two or more races6.0% · 152
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 73
- Black or African American1.9% · 49
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 25
Gender
Gender distribution for Axl
Out of the 4,219 babies given the name Axl since 1880, 99.9% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Axl as a male name
- Ranked #1,027 in 2024
- 216 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (377 births)
Axl as a female name
- Ranked #15,423 in 2020
- 5 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2020 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Axl appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,542 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Axl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Axl from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,277 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Axl remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Axl by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Axl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Axls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Axl, while Montana, Massachusetts, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 77 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Axl
The name Axl is a Germanic name with origins dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old Norse name Aksel, which means "father of peace" or "the peace-maker." The name Aksel is composed of the elements "akr" meaning "anchor" and "hildr" meaning "battle."
In the 9th century, the name Aksel was recorded as a common name among Vikings and Scandinavian settlers. As they spread across Europe, the name took on various spellings and forms, including Axel, Axl, and Axele. The name gained popularity in regions of Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway during the medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Axl can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of narratives depicting the lives and adventures of Norse settlers in Iceland. In these tales, Axl was often used as a name for noble warriors and respected leaders, highlighting the name's association with strength and peacemaking.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals bearing the name Axl. One of the earliest was Axl Erikson (c. 1050 - 1120), a Danish chieftain and explorer who is credited with leading the first Danish expedition to Greenland. Another notable figure was Axl von Bülow (1218 - 1293), a German nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the Crusades.
In the 16th century, Axl Oxenstierna (1583 - 1654), a Swedish statesman and diplomat, served as the Lord High Chancellor of Sweden and played a crucial role in the Thirty Years' War. Axl Arnfeldt (1718 - 1787), a Swedish industrialist and entrepreneur, was a prominent figure in the Swedish iron industry and contributed significantly to the country's economic development.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Axl in modern times is Axl Rose (born 1962), the lead singer of the iconic American rock band Guns N' Roses. His unique stage presence and powerful vocals have made him a legendary figure in the world of rock music.
People
Axl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Axl as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Axl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Axl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,183 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Axl going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 81,940 US residents.
Is Axl a common name?
We classify Axl as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,219 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Axl most popular?
The single biggest year for Axl was 2019, when 377 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Axl is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Axl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,541 people with the name Axl, or 0.84 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,347 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Axl in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Axl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Axl appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,542 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Axl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Axl is White at 62.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.8%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Axl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Axl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.5% (1,587 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Axl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Axl a male name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Axl in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Axl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Axl in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Axl can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Axl?
Want to know how many Americans are named Axl? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.