Meaning and history
Russel is an English spelling variant of Russell. Russell began as an Anglo-Norman surname from Old French rous, “red-haired” or “reddish,” with a diminutive suffix. It therefore originally described someone with red hair or a ruddy complexion. The surname later became a given name. Notable bearers with one final l include Filipino actor Russel Malahay and South African rugby player Russel Winter; the two-l spelling remains more common.
20062006: 40 births, rank #2,832
2007: 29 births, rank #3,591
2008: 30 births, rank #3,561
2009: 31 births, rank #3,476
2010: 39 births, rank #2,958
20112011: 20 births, rank #4,659
2012: 27 births, rank #3,807
2013: 27 births, rank #3,753
2014: 18 births, rank #5,066
2015: 20 births, rank #4,711
20162016: 20 births, rank #4,776
2017: 30 births, rank #3,586
2018: 30 births, rank #3,607
2019: 30 births, rank #3,636
2020: 28 births, rank #3,734
20212021: 25 births, rank #4,118
2022: 22 births, rank #4,570
2023: 14 births, rank #6,220
2024: 23 births, rank #4,433
20252025: 27 births, rank #3,949
Russel rose from #978 to #890 for boys between 1983 and 1984. Its highest annual birth count came in 1920, with 389 births.