# Hershel (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/hershel/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Yiddish |
| Meaning | “deer”, “buck” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Herschel |
| US babies named this | 10,334 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 10,329 / 5 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 55, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish הירשעל (hirshel), a diminutive of הירש (hirsh, “deer, buck”).

## What it means

Hershel is grouped under deer.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1918 | 5 | 5,144 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 47 | 2,602 |
| 2012 | 35 | 3,194 |
| 2013 | 39 | 2,911 |
| 2014 | 41 | 2,861 |
| 2015 | 49 | 2,539 |
| 2016 | 40 | 2,948 |
| 2017 | 38 | 3,090 |
| 2018 | 36 | 3,195 |
| 2019 | 31 | 3,594 |
| 2020 | 38 | 3,042 |
| 2021 | 32 | 3,531 |
| 2022 | 47 | 2,768 |
| 2023 | 52 | 2,556 |
| 2024 | 49 | 2,685 |
| 2025 | 48 | 2,692 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 4 | 3,208 |
| 2007 | 4 | 3,589 |
| 2008 | 4 | 3,687 |
| 2009 | 6 | 2,837 |
| 2010 | 3 | 4,678 |
| 2013 | 5 | 3,315 |
| 2016 | 5 | 3,478 |
| 2019 | 3 | 4,702 |
| 2020 | 4 | 3,848 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,451 |
| 2022 | 5 | 3,449 |
| 2023 | 4 | 4,107 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5,137 |

## People named Hershel

- Hershel Shanks, American archaeologist (1930–2021)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.