Danish form of Hebrew Absalom, "father of peace" — father of peace. Long a royal name in Denmark and Sweden before its American rise.
Axel ranks 79th among American boys in 2025, with 4,148 born that year. Its best year was 2020, when 4,675 babies were given the name, ranking 72nd. The typical living American called Axel is about 9 years old today. It is relatively most common in Wyoming, where it accounts for 0.42% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.