Muriel
A feminine name of French origin meaning "bright sea".
Name Census estimates that about 8,597 living Americans carry the first name Muriel. It is a predominantly female name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Muriel today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Muriel births was 1922 (2,407 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Muriel. 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 Muriel with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Muriel is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 762 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Muriel is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Muriels were born before 1967.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Muriel have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
8.6K
~ 1 in 39,869 Americans
Peak year
1922
2,407 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
1966 SSA rank
#3,198
Tracked since 1880
Census
Muriel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 15,470 people with the first name Muriel, which placed it at #1,861 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
#1,861
National first-name rank
People counted
15K
15,470 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Muriel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Muriel is White at 74.1%. The next largest groups are Black (17.1%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Muriel 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 Muriel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.1% · 11,463
- Black or African American17.1% · 2,640
- Hispanic or Latino3.9% · 596
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 338
- Two or more races1.9% · 291
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 142
Gender
Gender distribution for Muriel
Muriel leans heavily female at 98.6% of total registrations, but 762 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Muriel as a male name
- Ranked #4,341 in 1966
- 5 male births in 1966
- Peak: 1926 (37 births)
Muriel as a female name
- Ranked #3,198 in 2024
- 50 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1922 (2,392 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Muriel leans strongly female. 15,254 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 223 male bearers (1.4%).
Popularity
Muriel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Muriel from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 20,749 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Muriel 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 Muriel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Muriels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Muriel, while Arizona, Utah, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,034 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Muriel
The name Muriel is derived from the Latin word "murra," meaning "myrrh," which is a fragrant resin used in perfumes and incense. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Mediterranean region, where myrrh was a valuable commodity traded along the spice routes.
The name first appeared in France during the Middle Ages, where it was a popular choice among the nobility and upper classes. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was Muriel, the daughter of King Robert II of France, who lived in the late 10th century.
In the 12th century, the name gained further prominence with the legendary figure of Muriel, the wife of the renowned English outlaw, Robin Hood. While her existence is debated by historians, she is often portrayed as a strong and loyal companion to her husband in various literary works and folk tales.
During the Renaissance period, the name Muriel was associated with several notable figures. Muriel Lester (1508-1572) was an English noblewoman and a prominent patron of the arts, known for her support of playwrights and poets of the time.
In the 19th century, Muriel Spark (1918-2006) was a renowned Scottish novelist and poet, best known for her novels "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" and "Memento Mori." Her works explored themes of morality, religion, and human nature, earning her critical acclaim and numerous literary awards.
Another famous Muriel was Muriel Duckworth (1908-2009), a Canadian activist, pacifist, and social worker. She dedicated her life to advocating for peace, human rights, and social justice, leaving a lasting impact on Canada's political and social landscape.
One cannot overlook Muriel Siebert (1928-2013), a pioneering American businesswoman and the first woman to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. She broke numerous glass ceilings and paved the way for women in the finance industry.
Throughout history, the name Muriel has been associated with strength, resilience, and a fragrant, enduring legacy, reflecting the rich cultural heritage and diverse personalities of those who have borne this name.
People
Muriel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Muriel 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
Muriel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Muriel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,597 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Muriel 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 39,869 US residents.
Is Muriel a common name?
We classify Muriel as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 55,614 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Muriel most popular?
The single biggest year for Muriel was 1922, when 2,407 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Muriel is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Muriel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 15,470 people with the name Muriel, or 5.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,861 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 Muriel 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 Muriel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Muriel leans strongly female. 15,254 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 223 male bearers (1.4%). 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 Muriel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Muriel is White at 74.1%. The next largest groups are Black (17.1%) and Hispanic (3.9%). 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 Muriel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Muriel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.1% (11,463 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 Muriel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Muriel a female name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Muriel 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 Muriel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Muriel 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 Muriel 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 Muriel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.