Gizel
Of Hebrew and Arabic origin, meaning "gazelle" or "young deer".
Name Census estimates that about 273 living Americans carry the first name Gizel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gizel today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gizel births was 2009 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gizel. 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.
People living today
273
~ 1 in 1,255,510 Americans
Peak year
2009
23 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2020 SSA rank
#15,930
Tracked since 1990
Census
Gizel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 293 people with the first name Gizel, which placed it at #29,959 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
#29,959
National first-name rank
People counted
293
293 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
82.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gizel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gizel is Hispanic at 82.3%. The next largest groups are White (8.5%) and Black (5.1%). 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 Gizel 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 Gizel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino82.3% · 241
- White8.5% · 25
- Black or African American5.1% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 7
- Two or more races1.7% · 5
Popularity
Gizel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gizel from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 151 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
Gizel 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 Gizel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gizels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gizel
The name Gizel has its origins in the ancient Turkic languages spoken by nomadic tribes in Central Asia, dating back to the 6th century AD. It is derived from the old Turkic word "gyz," meaning "girl" or "maiden." The name was popular among the Oghuz Turks, who later migrated to Anatolia and played a significant role in the establishment of the Ottoman Empire.
In the 11th century, the name Gizel appeared in several historical records and manuscripts written in the Ottoman Turkish language. One of the earliest recorded instances can be found in the "Divan-i Luġat-it Turk," an influential lexicographical work compiled by the renowned scholar Mahmud al-Kashgari in 1072-1074 AD.
During the Ottoman era, Gizel was a relatively common name among Turkish women, particularly in the royal and aristocratic circles. One notable figure was Gizel Hatun, a princess from the Karamanid dynasty, who lived in the 14th century. She was renowned for her beauty and intelligence and played a prominent role in the political affairs of her time.
In the 16th century, Gizel Khatun, a concubine of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, was known for her influence in the Ottoman imperial harem. Her son, Mustafa, was briefly enthroned as the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in 1617.
Another historical figure bearing the name Gizel was Gizel Banu, a Turkish poet and scholar who lived in the 17th century. She was widely respected for her literary works and contributions to the intellectual life of the Ottoman Empire.
As the Ottoman Empire expanded, the name Gizel spread to various regions under its influence, including the Balkans, the Caucasus, and parts of the Middle East. In the 19th century, Gizel Khanim, a prominent Azerbaijani educator and women's rights activist, played a significant role in promoting women's education in the region.
Over the centuries, the name Gizel has undergone various spelling variations, such as Gizem, Gizelle, and Ghezal, reflecting the linguistic diversity of the regions where it has been used. Despite these variations, the name has maintained its connection to its Turkic roots and the cultural heritage of Central Asia.
People
Gizel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gizel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gizel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gizel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 273 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gizel 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 1,255,510 US residents.
Is Gizel a common name?
We classify Gizel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 277 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gizel most popular?
The single biggest year for Gizel was 2009, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gizel is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gizel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 293 people with the name Gizel, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,959 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 Gizel 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 Gizel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gizel appears almost entirely female. Of the 286 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Gizel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gizel is Hispanic at 82.3%. The next largest groups are White (8.5%) and Black (5.1%). 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 Gizel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Gizel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.3% (241 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 Gizel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gizel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gizel in the SSA data are female. 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 Gizel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gizel 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 Gizel 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 called Gizel?
You can see how many people have the name Gizel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.