The story in the numbers

358,820 boys have been named Russell in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1960, with 7,482 births — 0.35% of all boys recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 410 → 367).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1956, and the 1950s alone account for 17%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 94 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 1,696 girls have also been given it, 0.47% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

By decade

Decade

boys named Russell

1,023

2,780

4,552

24,842

37,208

28,840

41,335

62,401

60,447

35,468

26,653

13,741

7,790

7,407

4,333

In 1960, its biggest year

Russell was the 56th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1960 were David, Michael, James, John and Robert. See all of 1960.

Names that rose and fell with Russell

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.