Gender:
Origin:
English
319 famous people named Ethel found on Wikipedia.
278729 female, 1490 male in US.
Most recent ranking:
4356-th in year 2018
Best ranking:
6-th in year 1896
Used in: English
A female given name: from a Germanic word meaning “noble.”.
Ethel (also æthel) is an Old English word meaning "noble". It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, both masculine and feminine, e.g. Æthelhard, Æthelred, Æthelwulf; Æthelburg, Æthelflæd, Æthelthryth (Audrey). It corresponds to the Adel- and Edel- in continental names, such as Adolph (Æthelwulf), Adalbert (Albert), Adelheid (Adelaide), Edeltraut and Edelgard. There would be some reason to believe that the word is actually taken from "aedilis" or "aedile", the Latin name of a Roman official, whose function was that of a magistrate and superintendent of public property. It was common that in smaller towns in the Roman era that the only public official was the aedile. Importantly, in later Roman times, the Aedile was in charge of the public treasury. The later clerical Latin translation of "aethel" as "clito" may be a reflection of the fact that there was no such formal position after the Roman civil authority disappeared. "Clito" was from "incluto" and an earlier Greek word that certainly did not mean "noble" in the sense of an inherited class status, but rather famous or illustrious.
Some of the feminine Anglo-Saxon names in Æthel- survived into the modern period (e.g. Etheldred Benett 1776–1845). Ethel was in origin used as a familiar form of such names, but it began to be used as a feminine given name in its own right beginning in the mid-19th century, gaining popularity due to characters so named in novels by W. M. Thackeray (The Newcomes - 1855) and Charlotte Mary Yonge (The Daisy Chain whose heroine Ethel's full name is Etheldred - 1856); the actress Ethel Barrymore - born 1879 - was named after The Newcomes character. Notes & Queries published correspondence about the name Ethel in 1872 because it was in fashion. The feminine name's popularity peaked in the 1890. In the United States, it was the 7th most commonly given girl's name in the year 1894. Its use gradually declined during the 20th century, falling below rank 100 by 1940, and below rank 1000 in 1976. Ethel was also occasionally used as a male given name during the period of ca. the 1880s to 1910s, but never with any frequency (never rising above rank 400, or 0.02% in popularity)
People called Ethel
Ethel D. Allen (1929-1981), the first African-American woman to serve on Philadelphia City Council
Ethel Anderson (1883–1958), Australian poet, essayist, novelist and painter
Ethel Percy Andrus (1884–1967), educator and founder of AARP
Ethel Armes (1876–1945), American journalist and historian
Ethel Armitage (1873–1957), British archer and 1908 Olympic competitor
Ethel Ayler (born 1934), American stage and film actress
Ethel Azama (1934–1984), American jazz and popular singer
Ethel Barrymore (1879–1959), American stage and screen actress
Ethel Bentham (1861–1931), English doctor, politician and suffragette
Ethel Blondin-Andrew (born 1951), Canadian politician and parliamentarian
Ethel Catherwood (1908–1987), American high jump gold medalist in the 1928 Olympics
Ethel Clayton (1882–1966), American silent film actress
Ethel Roosevelt Derby (1891–1977), younger daughter of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt
Ethel Hatch (1869-1975), muse of Lewis Carroll
Ethel Hays (1892–1989), American cartoonist and illustrator
Ethel Kennedy (born 1928), American widow of Robert F. Kennedy
Ethel Lang (1900-2015), British supercentenarian and the last Victorian
Ethel MacDonald (1909–1960), Scottish anarchist, activist and propagandist
Ethel Merman (1908–1984), American actress and singer
Ethel L. Payne (1911–1991), African American journalist
Ethel Rosenberg (1915–1953), American executed for espionage
Ethel Schwabacher (1903–1984), American abstract expressionist painter
Ethel Shannon (1898–1951), American silent film actress
Ethel Smith (organist) (1902–1996), American organist and recording artist
Ethel Smyth (1858–1944), English composer and women's suffrage leader
Ethel Teare (1894–1959), American silent film actress.
Ethel Grey Terry (1882–1931), American silent film actress
Ethel Turner (1872–1958), Australian novelist and children's writer
Ethel Lilian Voynich (1864–1960), English novelist and musician
Ethel Waters (1896–1977), American blues and jazz vocalist and actress
Fictional characters
Big Ethel, from Archie Comics
Ethel Hallow, from The Worst Witch book series by Jill Murphy
Ethel Mertz, from the television program I Love Lucy
Ethel Mertz, a Richard Christy character from The Howard Stern Show
Ethel Skinner, in the British soap opera EastEnders
Ethel Thayer, a character from On Golden Pond
Ethel Blackmore, from Subnormality
Fem. proper name, originally a shortening of Old English Etheldred, Ethelinda, etc., in which the first elements mean "noble, nobility," from Proto-Germanic *athala- (see atheling).
Righteous, noble.
Popularity | Name | Birth Year | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ethel Skakel Kennedy | 1928 | Attorney General of the United States and widow of Robert F. Kennedy |
2 | Ethel Merman | 1908 | Actress, singer |
3 | Ethel Barrymore | 1879 | Actress |
4 | Ethel Waters | 1896 | American blues, jazz and gospel vocalist and actress |
5 | Big Ethel | ||
6 | Ethel Roosevelt Derby | 1891 | Daughter of Theodore Roosevelt |
7 | Ethel Mertz | ||
8 | Ethel Smyth | 1858 | English composer |
9 | Ethel du Pont | 1916 | American heiress and socialite |
10 | Ethel Skinner | 1914 | |
11 | Ethel Booba | 1976 | Filipino actress |
12 | Ethel Griffies | 1878 | British Actress |
13 | Ethel Hedgeman Lyle | 1887 | Founder of Alpha Kappa Alpha |
14 | Ethel Hallow | ||
15 | Ethel Le Neve | 1883 | Mistress of Dr Crippen |
16 | Ethel Percy Andrus | 1884 | American educator |
17 | Ethel Mannin | 1900 | English writer |
18 | Ethel Ayler | 1934 | American actress |
19 | Ethel Lina White | 1876 | British writer |
20 | Ethel Beatty | ||
21 | Ethel V. Mars | 1884 | American businesswoman and racehorse owner |
22 | Ethel Ennis | 1932 | American musician |
23 | Ethel Gee | 1914 | British spy for the Soviet Union |
24 | Ethel Flora Fortune | 1883 | Titanic passenger |
25 | Ethel Catherwood | 1908 | Canadian track and field athlete |
26 | Ethel Byrne | 1883 | American nurse |
27 | Ethel Clayton | 1882 | Actress |
28 | Ethel Watts Mumford | 1878 | American writer |
29 | Ethel Armes | 1876 | American journalist/historian |
30 | Ethel L. Payne | 1911 | American journalist |
31 | Ethel Farrell | 1902 | |
32 | Ethel Ernistine Harper | 1903 | Actress |
33 | Ethel Snowden | 1881 | Socialist, feminist, women's suffrage and pacifist campaigner |
34 | Ethel Cuff Black | 1890 | American educator and co-founder of Delta Sigma Theta |
35 | Ethel Gordon Fenwick | 1857 | British nurse |
36 | Ethel M. Dell | 1881 | British writer |
37 | Ethel Lavenu | 1842 | British actress |
38 | Ethel Blondin-Andrew | 1951 | Canadian politician |
39 | Ethel Shutta | 1896 | Actress, singer |
40 | Ethel Owen | 1893 | Actress |
41 | Ethel Mairet | 1872 | British craft hand loom weaver |
42 | Ethel Leckwith | ||
43 | Ethel Sands | 1873 | American-born British artist, socialite, patron |
44 | Ethel Lilian Voynich | 1864 | British writer and musician |
45 | Ethel Shannon | 1898 | Actress |
46 | Ethel Thomson Larcombe | 1879 | English badminton and tennis player |
47 | Ethel Azama | 1934 | American jazz and popular singer and recording artist who was of Okinawan ancestry |
48 | Ethel Rosenberg | 1915 | American woman executed for spying for the Soviet Union |
49 | Ethel Hays | 1892 | Cartoonist |
50 | Ethel Bellamy | 1881 | English astronomical computer and seismologist |
51 | Ethel Soliven Timbol | 1940 | Filipino journalist |
52 | Ethel Mobley | 1920 | American stock car racing driver |
53 | Ethel Reed | 1874 | American artist |
54 | Ethel Weed | 1906 | American military officer who advocated for the rights of Japanese women during the Allied occupation of Japan following World War II |
55 | Ethel Pedley | 1859 | Australian writer |
56 | Ethel Grandin | 1894 | Actress |
57 | Ethel Anderson | 1883 | Early twentieth century Australian poet |
58 | Ethel Benjamin | 1875 | New Zealand lawyer |
59 | Ethel MacDonald | 1909 | Scottish anarchist |
60 | Ethel Wilson | 1888 | Canadian writer |
61 | Ethel Schwabacher | 1903 | American artist |
62 | Ethel Wales | 1878 | Actress |
63 | Ethel Grey Terry | 1882 | American actress |
64 | Ethel Post-Parrish | ||
65 | Ethel Léontine Gabain | 1883 | British artist |
66 | Ethel D. Allen | 1929 | American politician and physician |
67 | Ethel V. Ashton | 1896 | |
68 | Ethel Lackie | 1907 | American swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, former world record-holder |
69 | Ethel Walker | 1861 | Scottish painter |
70 | Ethel Franklin Betts | 1878 | American artist |
71 | Ethel Leginska | 1886 | British composer |
72 | Ethel Mutharika | First lady of Malawi | |
73 | Ethel Brilliana Tweedie | 1862 | English writer, photographer and artist |
74 | Ethel Smith | 1907 | Canadian sprinter |
75 | Ethel Swanbeck | 1893 | American politician |
76 | Ethel Krauze | 1954 | Mexican writer |
77 | Ethel Barrett | 1913 | Christian author and storyteller |
78 | Ethel Bush | 1916 | British police officer |
79 | Ethel Hatch | 1869 | British artist |
80 | Methyl Ethel | ||
81 | Ethel Jones Mowbray | Alpha Kappa Alpha founder | |
82 | Ethel Moorhead | 1870 | British suffragette and painter |
83 | Ethel Locke-King | 1864 | British businessman |
84 | Ethel D. Jacobs | 1910 | American racehorse owner |
85 | Ethel Bentham | 1861 | British medical doctor and Labour Party M.P. |
86 | Ethel Wright Mohamed | 1906 | American artist |
87 | Ethel Carrick | 1872 | (1872-1952) artist |
88 | Ethel Myers | 1881 | American sculptor |
89 | Ethel Cooper | 1871 | Australian musician |
90 | Ethel Stark | 1910 | Violinist and conductor |
91 | Ethel T. Wead Mick | 1881 | Founder of the Masonic Youth Organization |
92 | Ethel Newbold | 1882 | English epidemiologist and statistician |
93 | Ethel Whibley | 1861 | British model |
94 | Ethel Person | 1934 | American psychiatrist |
95 | Ethel McMillan | 1904 | New Zealand politician |
96 | Ethel Gabriel | 1921 | American record producer |
97 | Ethel Muckelt | 1885 | Figure skater |
98 | Ethel Magafan | 1916 | American painter |
99 | Ethel Finnie | 1898 | American classic female blues singer |
100 | Ethel Grenfell, baronessa Desborough | 1867 | British Lady of the Bedchamber (1867-1952) |
101 | Ethel Dench Puffer Howes | 1872 | American psychologist |
102 | Ethel Matala de Mazza | 1968 | German specialist in literature and university teacher |
103 | Ethel Spowers | 1890 | Australian artist |
104 | Ethel Carnie Holdsworth | 1886 | British writer |
105 | Ethel Lynn Beers | 1827 | American writer |
106 | Ethel Jackson | 1877 | American actress |
107 | Ethel Merston | 1882 | Convert to Hinduism |
108 | Ethel Seath | 1879 | Canadian painter |
109 | Ethel Charles | 1871 | Architect |
110 | Ethel Rojo | 1937 | Actress |
111 | Ethel Browne Harvey | 1885 | Biologist |
112 | Ethel Shakespear | 1871 | English geologist, public servant and philanthropist |
113 | Ethel Warwick | 1882 | Actress and model |
114 | Ethel Furman | 1893 | American architect |
115 | Ethel Barns | 1874 | British composer and violinist |
116 | Agnes Ethel | 1846 | Actress |
117 | Ethel Bliss Platt | 1881 | US tennis player |
118 | Ethel Rhind | 1877 | |
119 | Ethel Coleridge | 1883 | British actress |
120 | Ethel McGary | 1907 | American swimmer, Olympic athlete, former world record-holder |
121 | Ethel McClellan Plummer | 1888 | American artist |
122 | Ethel G. Hofman | 1939 | American journalist |
123 | Ethel Colburn Mayne | 1865 | Irish writer |
124 | Ethel Wilson Gammon | 1916 | American educator and museum director |
125 | Ethel Marion Gould | 1895 | New Zealand politician |
126 | Ethel Sargant | 1863 | Botanist |
127 | Ethel Remey | 1895 | American actress |
128 | Ethel Morgan Smith | 1952 | |
129 | Ethel McCreary | All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player | |
130 | Ethel Bailey Higgins | 1866 | American botanist |
131 | Ethel Bristowe | 1862 | |
132 | Ethel Winter | 1924 | American ballet dancer |
133 | Ethel Hall | 1898 | American actress |
134 | Ethel Marshall | 1924 | Badminton player |
135 | Ethel Berry | 1873 | Prominent female figure of the Klondike Gold Rush |
136 | Ethel Knight Kelly | 1875 | Actor, writer |
137 | Ethel Zoe Bailey | 1889 | American botanist (1889-1983) |
138 | Ethel Wormald | 1901 | British politician and educationist; 2nd woman Lord Mayor of Liverpool |
139 | Ethel Cochrane | 1937 | Canadian politician |
140 | Ethel Funches | 1913 | |
141 | Ethel Teare | 1894 | American actress |
142 | Ethel May Halls | 1882 | Actress |
143 | Ethel Rolt Wheeler | 1869 | Irish writer |
144 | Ethel Hill | 1898 | American screenwriter |
145 | Ethel Mary Wood | 1876 | |
146 | Ethel Bruce | 1879 | |
147 | Ethel May Dixie | 1876 | South African artist |
148 | Ethel Johnson | 1908 | English sprinter |
149 | Ethel Thomas | 1876 | English botanist |
150 | Ethel Tawse Jollie | 1874 | Rhodesian politician |
151 | Ethel Scott | 1907 | British sprinter |
152 | Ethel Sylvia Wilson | 1902 | Canadian politician |
153 | Ethel M. Elderton | 1878 | British mathematician |
154 | Ethel Edwards | 1914 | American artist |
155 | Ethel Jewett | 1877 | American actress |
156 | Ethel Romig Fuller | 1883 | American poet |
157 | Ethel Bergstresser McCoy | 1893 | American philatelist |
158 | Ethel Wright | 1884 | American actress |
159 | Ethel Collins Dunham | 1883 | American physician |
160 | Ethel Turner | 1868 | |
161 | Ethel Mars | 1876 | An American artist |
162 | Ethel Glenn Hier | 1889 | Pianist and composer |
163 | Ethel Dickenson | 1880 | Canadian nurse |
164 | Ethel Currie | 1899 | Scottish geologist |
165 | Ethel D Cofie | Technology Entreprenuer | |
166 | Ethel Ray Nance | 1899 | US civil rights activist |
167 | Ethel Moustacchi | 1933 | French chemist |
168 | Ethel Hurlbatt | 1866 | British academic |
169 | Ethel Portnoy | 1927 | Dutch writer |
170 | Ethel Minor | 1922 | American activist |
171 | Ethel Lang | 1902 | Australian actress |
172 | Ethel Alpenfels | 1907 | American anthropologist |
173 | Ethel Harrington | 1907 | American sprinter |
174 | Ethel Raybould | 1899 | |
175 | Ethel R. Harraden | 1857 | Pianist and composer |
176 | Ethel Ronzoni Bishop | 1890 | American biochemist |
177 | Ethel Scull | 1921 | |
178 | Ethel Margaret Phillips | 1876 | British medical missionary |
179 | Ethel Spears | 1903 | American painter, muralist, and lithographer |
180 | Ethel Anson Peckham | 1879 | Botanist (1879-1965) |
181 | Ethel Brez | American screenwriter | |
182 | Ethel Scarborough | 1880 | Pianist and composer |
183 | Ethel Irving | 1869 | |
184 | Ethel Barringer | 1883 | Australian woman artist |
185 | Ethel Hobday | 1872 | Irish musician |
186 | Ethel Kibblewhite | 1873 | |
187 | Ethel Atwood | 1870 | American musician |
188 | Ethel Bertha Harrison | 1851 | Essayist |
189 | Ethel Doidge | 1887 | Mycologist and bacteriologist |
190 | Ethel Armitage | 1873 | British archer |
191 | Ethel Raby | 1914 | British long jumper, sprinter and hurdler |
192 | Ethel Pritchard | 1880 | Nga Puhi; military and civilian nurse |
193 | Ethel Baker | 1906 | |
194 | Ethel, Lady Pearson | 1870 | British humanitarian |
195 | Ethel Skeat | 1865 | English stratigrapher, invertebrate paleontologist, and geologist |
196 | Ethel Jenner Rosenberg | ||
197 | Ethel Koffman | 1958 | Argentine singer and music educator |
198 | Ethel Fortner | 1907 | American writer |
199 | Ethel Houbiers | 1973 | French actress |
200 | Ethel Afamado | 1940 | Uruguayan writer |