Powell
Powell reached its high-water mark in 1919 at number 1,247, and has been recorded 1,491 times in all. In 2025 it ranked 8,243rd. About 690 Powells are alive in the United States today, and half of them are over 43.
Popularity, 1880–2025
girls named Powell boys named Powell
By the numbers
- Total US births
- 1,491
- Estimated living today
- 690
- Median age today
- 43
- Peak year
- 1919
- Best rank
- 1,247th
- Rank in 2025
- 8,243rd
- First recorded
- 1883
- Girls / boys
- 6 / 1,485
How old the living Powells are
born that year still alive today
Of the 1,491 babies given the name since 1883, about 690 are alive — 46 in every hundred. The dotted line is the median: half were born before 1982 and half after.
An estimate, not a count. SSA births aged forward through SSA cohort life tables, which know nothing about who left the country or arrived in it — so for a name that mostly came to America rather than being born in it, this is a floor rather than a figure. Where you fall among living Americans.
Where the name comes from
The anglicized form of Welsh ap Hywel (“son of Hywel”). Related. Sometimes also associated with Paul.
Etymology from Wiktionary, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Notable Powells
- Baden Powell (1937–2000)Brazilian musician
- Powell Clayton (1833–1914)American politician
People named Powell with articles in the most Wikipedia languages. Data from Wikidata (CC0).
Where Powell is most common
Total births recorded in each state since 1910. Browse names by state.
Names of 1919
The most popular boys’ names the year Powell peaked:
Try it on yourself
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state baby-name files, 1880–2025. Counts include only births registered with the SSA, and names with fewer than five births in a year are not published. The living estimate applies SSA cohort life tables to those births; it counts people born in the United States, so it misses anyone who arrived later and anyone who has left.