Makell
Of English origin, a variant spelling of the name Mitchell.
Name Census estimates that about 480 living Americans carry the first name Makell. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Makell today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Makell births was 2007 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Makell. 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
480
~ 1 in 714,072 Americans
Peak year
2007
35 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,715
Tracked since 1992
Census
Makell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 426 people with the first name Makell, which placed it at #23,110 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
#23,110
National first-name rank
People counted
426
426 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Makell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makell is Black at 50.7%. The next largest groups are White (40.8%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Makell 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 Makell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.7% · 216
- White40.8% · 174
- Two or more races5.2% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 14
Gender
Gender distribution for Makell
Makell is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 486 total registrations, 337 (69.3%) were male and 149 (30.7%) were female.
Makell as a male name
- Ranked #11,715 in 2023
- 6 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2008 (25 births)
Makell as a female name
- Ranked #14,084 in 2013
- 7 female births in 2013
- Peak: 1999 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Makell on both sides of the split. Of the 431 people counted with this name, 243 were male (56.4%) and 188 were female (43.6%).
Popularity
Makell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Makell 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 252 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
Makell 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 Makell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Makells live
Origin
Meaning and history of Makell
The given name Makell has its origins in the ancient Celtic language, which was spoken across various regions of Europe, including parts of modern-day France, Spain, and the British Isles. The name is believed to have derived from the Celtic word "makel," which translates to "bright" or "shining." It was a name commonly given to children born during the summer solstice, symbolizing the warmth and radiance of the sun.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Makell can be found in the Annals of Inisfallen, a medieval Irish chronicle dating back to the 11th century. The annals document the life of Makell mac Tomaltaig, a prominent chieftain from the Kingdom of Munster, who lived in the early 9th century and played a significant role in the political landscape of that era.
In the 12th century, a Welsh monk named Makell ap Rhys gained recognition for his scholarly contributions to the preservation of Celtic literature and folklore. His transcriptions of ancient Celtic tales and poems have been invaluable in understanding the rich cultural heritage of the region.
During the medieval period, the name Makell was particularly popular among the Celtic populations of Scotland and Ireland. One notable figure was Makell O'Neill, a 15th-century Irish warrior and chieftain of the O'Neill clan, who led his people in numerous battles against English forces during the Tudor conquest of Ireland.
In the 16th century, a Scottish philosopher and theologian named Makell Geddes made significant contributions to the intellectual discourse of his time. His writings on ethics, metaphysics, and theology were widely read and debated throughout Europe.
Another prominent figure bearing the name Makell was a 17th-century Welsh poet and bard named Makell ab Ifan. His poetic works, which celebrated the beauty of the Welsh landscape and the rich cultural traditions of his people, are still studied and appreciated today.
While the name Makell may have lost some of its popularity in more recent times, its historical roots and cultural significance remain deeply embedded in the Celtic heritage. The name continues to be a reminder of the vibrant and enduring traditions of these ancient peoples.
People
Makell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Makell as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Makell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Makell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 480 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Makell 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 714,072 US residents.
Is Makell a common name?
We classify Makell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 486 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Makell most popular?
The single biggest year for Makell was 2007, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Makell 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 Makell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 426 people with the name Makell, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,110 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 Makell 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 Makell?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Makell on both sides of the split. Of the 431 people counted with this name, 243 were male (56.4%) and 188 were female (43.6%). 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 Makell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Makell is Black at 50.7%. The next largest groups are White (40.8%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Makell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Makell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.7% (216 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 Makell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Makell a male name?
Yes, 69.3% of people registered as Makell 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 Makell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Makell 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 Makell 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 common is the name Makell?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.