Meaning and history
Herschel is a Yiddish masculine diminutive of Hirsh or Hirsch, meaning “deer” or “stag.” Animal names have a long place in Ashkenazi Jewish naming traditions, sometimes paired with Hebrew names of related symbolism. Herschel also became a surname, as in the astronomer William Herschel, but its given-name history is independent of that family. Notable given-name bearers include American athlete Herschel Walker and German-born Jewish refugee Herschel Grynszpan.
20062006: 26 births, rank #3,782
2007: 11 births, rank #7,094
2008: 12 births, rank #6,763
2009: 14 births, rank #6,095
2010: 10 births, rank #7,591
20112011: 9 births, rank #8,079
2012: 20 births, rank #4,686
2013: 16 births, rank #5,404
2014: 15 births, rank #5,733
2015: 27 births, rank #3,882
20162016: 28 births, rank #3,776
2017: 22 births, rank #4,466
2018: 24 births, rank #4,226
2019: 33 births, rank #3,426
2020: 38 births, rank #3,025
20212021: 38 births, rank #3,121
2022: 23 births, rank #4,442
2023: 28 births, rank #3,883
2024: 20 births, rank #4,890
20252025: 34 births, rank #3,379
Herschel moved from #843 to #940 for boys between 1962 and 1963. Its highest annual birth count came in 1921, with 277 births.