# Manuel (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/manuel/  
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 | Spanish |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /mɑnˈwɛl/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Manual |
| US babies named this | 192,742 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 191,584 / 1,158 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 533, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish and Portuguese Manuel, short for Emanuel.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 27 | 3,747 |
| 1990 | 16 | 5,721 |
| 1991 | 21 | 4,742 |
| 1992 | 19 | 5,185 |
| 1993 | 13 | 6,891 |
| 1994 | 21 | 4,777 |
| 1995 | 11 | 7,863 |
| 1996 | 9 | 9,276 |
| 1997 | 7 | 11,591 |
| 1998 | 8 | 10,745 |
| 1999 | 7 | 12,179 |
| 2000 | 9 | 10,419 |
| 2002 | 8 | 11,785 |
| 2006 | 8 | 13,151 |
| 2022 | 5 | 16,840 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,559 | 231 |
| 2012 | 1,464 | 249 |
| 2013 | 1,472 | 246 |
| 2014 | 1,382 | 265 |
| 2015 | 1,297 | 283 |
| 2016 | 1,301 | 280 |
| 2017 | 1,327 | 274 |
| 2018 | 1,219 | 290 |
| 2019 | 1,147 | 298 |
| 2020 | 1,018 | 323 |
| 2021 | 1,036 | 321 |
| 2022 | 1,065 | 316 |
| 2023 | 1,009 | 333 |
| 2024 | 958 | 351 |
| 2025 | 860 | 371 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 20 | 1,251 |
| 2012 | 19 | 1,313 |
| 2013 | 23 | 1,116 |
| 2014 | 22 | 1,178 |
| 2015 | 26 | 1,074 |
| 2016 | 30 | 974 |
| 2017 | 31 | 968 |
| 2018 | 27 | 1,040 |
| 2019 | 25 | 1,083 |
| 2020 | 29 | 962 |
| 2021 | 25 | 1,117 |
| 2022 | 20 | 1,314 |
| 2023 | 20 | 1,309 |
| 2024 | 35 | 898 |
| 2025 | 29 | 1,035 |

## People named Manuel

- Manuel Valls, French and Spanish politician
- Manuel I Komnenos, Byzantine Emperor
- Manuel II Palaiologos, Byzantine emperor (1350-1425)
- Manuel Belgrano, Argentine politician and military leader
- Manuel Ávila Camacho, 52th President of Mexico
- Manuel Pellegrini, Chilean association football player and manager
- Manuel Lanzini, Argentine association football player
- Manuel Rivera-Ortiz, American photographer (born 1968)
- José Manuel Imbamba, Angolan Roman Catholic archbishop and university teacher
- Manuel Puig, Argentine writer (1932-1990)
- Manuel Amoros, French footballer
- Manuel Chrysoloras, Byzantine Greek scholar, diplomat, and professor (c. 1350–1415)

## 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.