Male name
Axel
3,942 births (England and Wales, 1996–2025), peaking in 2022. Expression number: 6.
Origin
From Danish Aksel, first used for the bishop and statesman Absalon Hvide (1128–1201), from biblical Absalom. Some sources suggest that the bishop was originally named Áskell, from Old Norse "god" + "cauldron, helmet", and Absalon was chosen as the nearest-sounding Christian equivalent, leading to the exchange of the middle consonants.From Wiktionary, entry “Axel”, text under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Do you know a Axel?
Send them the page about their name.
How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In England and Wales
Peak in 2022: 547 births. 3,942 births from 1996 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 2020s. It really came into use around 2005. It is still given: 2,227 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the United States
Peak in 2020: 4,675 births. 72,668 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 2010s and 2020s. At its peak, it ranked 71st among boys' names in 2023. It really came into use around 1886. It is still given: 21,864 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
In Ireland
Peak in 2023: 25 births. 202 births from 1964 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 2020s. It really came into use around 2020. It is still given: 101 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Central Statistics Office, Irish Babies' Names, CC BY 4.0.
Elsewhere in the world
The name in the birth records of the 10 countries we track. The period covered varies from country to country.
| Country | Births | Period | Best rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 89,905 | 1900–2025 | 23rd in 2003 |
| Argentina | 20,991 | 2012–2023 | 100th in 2012 |
| Switzerland | 2,747* | 1915–2025 | — |
| Quebec | 2,143 | 1980–2025 | 40th in 2022 |
| Belgium | 323 | 2014–2023 | — |
| Austria | 188 | 1984–2025 | — |
| Berlin | 99 | 2012–2023 | — |
* These are the people living in the country, counted by year of birth, not the number of births.
Source: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms, Etalab Open Licence 2.0; RENAPER, Nombres propios en Argentina, CC BY 4.0 (the registry doesn't record sex); Federal Statistical Office, First names of the population by year of birth, free use with attribution; Retraite Québec, Banque de prénoms, CC BY 4.0; Statbel, first names of newborns, CC BY 4.0 (one total for the whole period, no yearly breakdown); Statistik Austria, Vornamen, CC BY 4.0; Open Data Berlin, Häufige Vornamen, CC BY 3.0 DE (every name a child carries, not only the first).
The numbers of the name
Each letter has a value: A = 1, B = 2… I = 9, then J = 1 again (Pythagorean method). We add them up, then reduce to a single digit, except 11, 22 and 33.
■ vowel · ■ consonant
Expression
All the letters: talents, the way you act.
6
responsibility, harmony, commitment to others
1 + 6 + 5 + 3 = 15 → 6
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
6
responsibility, harmony, commitment to others
1 + 5 = 6
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
9
humanity, generosity, completion
6 + 3 = 9
- Digits missing from the name
- 2, 4, 7, 8, 9
- Most frequent digit
- 1 · initiative, independence, beginnings
The meaning of the numbers comes from numerological tradition; it isn't a measure of your personality. A full portrait needs your first and middle names, your last name at birth, and your date of birth. How we calculate
Your name and theirs
The number of each name, and the number of the bond, which comes from adding them together. A symbolic game: what your two names say together, to be read as a metaphor, not as a verdict on your relationship.