Axel is a first name typically given to boys, but in rare cases also used as a girls name.
The name Axel isn’t among the current fashionable names in our top 10 stats, but nonetheless, it’s still very popular and common. In our SmartGenius ranking of all boys names, Axel ranks 104. Recently, out of every 10,000 newborn boys, approximately 21 were named Axel. In the entire USA, approximately 56,723 people – children, adults and seniors – currently bear the name Axel. That is 0.02 % of all living Americans.
Axel is a name of Scandinavian origin, specifically from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is derived from the Old Norse name Ásgeirr, which is composed of two elements ‘Ás’ meaning ‘god’ and ‘geirr’ meaning ‘spear’. The name Axel could also be a variant of the name Absalom, which is of Hebrew origin and means ‘father of peace’.
An axel is... a turn that is commonly performed in jazz dance. The performer leaps into the air and, while airborne, tucks both legs underneath and rotates. It is usually executed while traveling across the floor.
Axel Springer (1912 - 1985)
Axel Springer was a German publisher and entrepreneur who founded Axel Springer SE in 1946, which is now one of the largest publishing groups in Europe, publishing numerous newspapers and magazines. After World War II, he founded his first newspaper, the 'Hamburger Abendblatt', and later expanded his media empire to include titles such as 'Bild', 'Die Welt', and 'Auto Bild'. Under Springer's leadership, 'Bild' became the most widely read tabloid newspaper in Germany.
Axl Rose (*1962)
Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.) rose to fame as the lead singer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses. In Los Angeles he met guitarist Izzy Stradlin and together they formed Guns N' Roses, a band that would become one of the most successful and influential rock bands in the world in the late 1980s. As the frontman of Guns N' Roses, Axl Rose became known for his charismatic vocal style and energetic live performances. The band released numerous albums, including their legendary debut, 'Appetite for Destruction' (1987), which is considered one of the greatest rock albums of all time.
Axel Axgil (1915 - 2011)
Axel Axgil (n饠Lundahl-Madsen) was a Danish LGBT activist. He was the first activist to come out publicly as gay in Denmark, which he did in 1948 with his partner Eigil Axgil. Axel and his partner worked to decriminalize homosexuality in Denmark and to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ people. Their advocacy helped Denmark become one of the first countries in the world to introduce registered partnerships for same-sex couples in 1989, and to legalize marriage for all in 2012. After Denmark legalized the registration of same-sex partnerships, Axel and Eigil became the first gay couple in the world to be registered.
Axl Rotten (1971 - 2016)
Axl Rotten was the stage name of American professional wrestler Brian Knighton. He was a professional wrestler in the 1990s, appearing for Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), among others. He was known for his hardcore wrestling style and risky in-ring maneuvers. Throughout his career, Rotten suffered numerous injuries and struggled with drug and alcohol abuse. Despite his short career and personal troubles. He was a popular and respected wrestler in the hardcore scene. He is considered by many fans to be a legend and a pioneer of hardcore wrestling.
When you hear the name Axel, you might first think of people. But did you know that there are also places with the name Axel? Are you also called Axel? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...
is a town in the municipality of Terneuzen in the province of Zeeland in the southwest of the Netherlands.
(or Mærsk) Line fleet has one container ship that goes by the name of Axel and can carry up to 9,000 containers.
#75 - this is the highest rank Axel has ever achieved. Not many names manage to reach such a high popularity in even one of the 140+ years of recording. The last time Axel reached this top spot was in 2020 when 4,660 newborn boys were given this name. But as our statistics show, Axel hasn't always been a popular name: in some years of record, most recently in the year 1957, not a single newborn or less than 5 were named Axel (a name is only included in the official statistics if it has been given at least 5 times in a year). Nevertheless, the name Axel has accompanied people in this country for a long time. It turns out that this name fits very well into our time today. From zero to hero - even though it took a while for Axel to really catch on, it has become a very popular name.
In years where the graph has no value, the name Axel was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.
In 2022, 4,333 newborns were given the name Axel, making it rank #79. In the current century, the name is really taking off. So the chances of meeting a young Axel are higher than ever.
The name Axel may not be in the top rankings of the most popular boys’ names, but it is one of the few male given names, along with only 385 others, that can be found in every single state in the U.S. from Alaska to Florida and from California to New York. Of course, the name occurs more frequently in some states than in others – and Axel is apparently especially popular in Nevada. Although the name is not one of the top 100 most popular men’s names here either, one in 786 men in Nevada is called Axel. In total, that’s 720 people who feel addressed when the name Axel is shouted loudly across Nevada and who ensure that their name makes it to #184 in our SmartGenius ranking of the most common male names in this nice state. If you asked all people in the entire U.S. for their first name, you would hear Axel as the answer a total of 56,723 times. This places Axel at #404 in our SmartGenius statistics for the most popular male names in the whole of the USA. This is true for all currently living people across all states and age groups – the recent popularity of the name Axel as a baby name is, of course, a bit different, as you can see from the statistics above.
Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter A is a very popular first letter for boys’ names. That’s because 9.0% of all common boys’ names in the US begin with this letter. Only the first letter J is more common for boys' names.
With four letters, the name Axel is shorter than most other given names. In fact, only 5.5% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly four letters. Just 1.2% of all first names are even shorter, while 93% consist of more than four letters. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.
That means that if 9.0% of all boys' names start with an A, this initial letter occurs nearly three times as often as all other letters on average. And by the way: Of all the boys' names that start with an A, Anthony is the most common.
If your name is Axel and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...
So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Axel, you can simply say:
Apple
Xylophone
Elephant
Lion
Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.
Axel
Axel
Just use American Sign Language!
These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.
A
X
E
L
In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.
A
X
E
L
In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Axel sounds like this:
