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Hershel

Hershel: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“deer”
Origin
Yiddish
Say it
HUR-shul · 2 syllables
Used for
Boys

Yiddish Hershl is a diminutive of Hebrew Tzvi, both associated with 'deer.' Hershel is a common English transliteration and also recalls astronomer Sir William Herschel’s surname.

Hebrew namesNames meaning animalNames meaning natureClassic names

How popular is Hershel?

202414.1 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Hershel in 202447

2024 rank#2,742 boys

Peak year1932

Total US babies since 188010,284

Hershel is steady now but far below its 1932 peak.

Names like Hershel

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

Hershel questions

What does the name Hershel mean?

Hershel means "deer". It comes from Yiddish. Yiddish Hershl is a diminutive of Hebrew Tzvi, both associated with 'deer.' Hershel is a common English transliteration and also recalls astronomer Sir William Herschel’s surname.

Is Hershel a boy or girl name?

Hershel is mainly a boy's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Hershel?

47 US babies were named Hershel in 2024. Its peak year was 1932.

How do you pronounce Hershel?

Hershel is usually pronounced HUR-shul.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.