Hazel
"Nutting" by Frederick Morgan.
GenderPrimarily feminine
Origin
Word/nameEnglish
Meaning"hazel"

Hazel is a primarily female given name meaning "hazel", from the name of the tree or the color. It is derived from the Old English hæsel.[1] It became a popular name in English-speaking countries during the 19th century, along with other names of plants or trees used for girls.[2]

Until about 1865, Hazel was a rare name that was primarily in masculine use in the United States. A sympathetic character in the 1880 play Hazel Kirke by Steele MacKaye helped popularize it as a feminine name in the late 1800s. It later fell out of fashion but has increased in popularity due to the influence of the character Hazel Grace Lancaster in the 2012 novel The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and its 2014 film adaptation.[3]

The name was among the 25 most popular names for girls in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. It declined in usage in that country after the 1960s but rose again in usage after 1998. It has ranked among the top 50 names for newborn girls in the United States since 2017.[4] It also was occasionally used for boys in the United States between 1900 and 1940.

The name has also increased in popularity in recent years for girls in other English-speaking countries such as Ireland[5] and Canada, where it was the 38th most popular name given to newborn girls in 2021.[6]

Variations include Hazell, Hazelle, Hasel and Heizle. Elaborations in use in the United States include Hazelgrace, Hazelmae, and Hazelmarie. Other names in use such as Hazelee, Hazeleigh, Hazelyn and Hazelynn might in some instances be variants.

People

Fictional characters

Notes

  1. Behind the Name
  2. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. p. 120. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.
  3. Evans, Cleveland Kent (10 June 2014). "Hazel's Revival Not So Nutty". omaha.com. Omaha World Herald. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
  4. "Popular Baby Names".
  5. Behind the Name
  6. "First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators". www150.statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
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