Cordelle
A combination of Cora and Adele, meaning "girl" and "noble".
Name Census estimates that about 92 living Americans carry the first name Cordelle. It is a predominantly male name (94.9% of registrations). The average person named Cordelle today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cordelle births was 2002 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cordelle. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cordelle. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
92
~ 1 in 3,725,591 Americans
Peak year
2002
10 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2021 SSA rank
#4,730
Tracked since 1917
Census
Cordelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 169 people with the first name Cordelle, which placed it at #42,487 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
#42,487
National first-name rank
People counted
169
169 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cordelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cordelle is Black at 50.3%. The next largest groups are White (29.0%) and Two or More Races (10.7%). 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 Cordelle 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 Cordelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.3% · 85
- White29.0% · 49
- Two or more races10.7% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.1% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Cordelle
Cordelle leans heavily male at 94.9% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Cordelle as a male name
- Ranked #12,499 in 2021
- 5 male births in 2021
- Peak: 2002 (10 births)
Cordelle as a female name
- Ranked #4,730 in 1917
- 5 female births in 1917
- Peak: 1917 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cordelle leans strongly male. 143 people counted with this name were male (88.3%), compared with 19 female bearers (11.7%).
Popularity
Cordelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cordelle from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 31 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cordelle 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 Cordelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cordelle
The name Cordelle is believed to have its origins in the French language, deriving from the word "cordelle," which means a small cord or string. It is thought to have emerged during the Middle Ages, possibly in the 12th or 13th century.
The name may have initially been used as a surname or occupational name for individuals involved in the production or use of cords, ropes, or strings. Over time, it transitioned into a given name, likely due to the practice of adopting surnames as first names.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cordelle can be found in the 14th century French text "Le Roman de la Rose," where it is mentioned as a character's name. This literary work, written in the late 13th century, provides evidence of the name's usage during that era.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Cordelle de Montreuil lived in France. She was a renowned poet and writer who contributed to the French Renaissance literary movement. Her birth and death dates are unknown, but her works have been preserved and studied by scholars.
During the 17th century, a French explorer and cartographer named Jean-Baptiste Cordelle made significant contributions to the mapping of North America. He was born in 1625 and died in 1696. His detailed maps and journals provided valuable insights into the geography and indigenous cultures of the region.
In the 18th century, a French artist named Marie-Cordelle Rivière gained recognition for her still-life paintings and portraiture. She was born in 1735 and died in 1805, leaving behind a notable body of work that is now part of various art collections.
Another prominent individual with the name Cordelle was a 19th-century French military officer named Louis-Cordelle Dupont. He served in the Napoleonic Wars and played a crucial role in several battles, including the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. His birth year was 1785, and he passed away in 1860.
Throughout its history, the name Cordelle has maintained a strong connection to its French roots, though it has also been embraced in other cultures and languages over time. Its unique and melodic sound, combined with its intriguing etymology, have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name.
People
Cordelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cordelle as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cordelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cordelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 92 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cordelle 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 3,725,591 US residents.
Is Cordelle a common name?
We classify Cordelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 99 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cordelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Cordelle was 2002, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cordelle is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cordelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 169 people with the name Cordelle, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,487 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 Cordelle 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 Cordelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cordelle leans strongly male. 143 people counted with this name were male (88.3%), compared with 19 female bearers (11.7%). 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 Cordelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cordelle is Black at 50.3%. The next largest groups are White (29.0%) and Two or More Races (10.7%). 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 Cordelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Cordelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.3% (85 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 Cordelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cordelle a male name?
Yes, 94.9% of people registered as Cordelle 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 Cordelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cordelle 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 Cordelle 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 have Cordelle as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.