Nameling

Muriel

Gender
Girl
Origin
Scottish
US rank, 2025
#4,351 for girls

Vintage revival

Muriel is a girls' name of Scottish origin, meaning “sea”. In 2025 it ranked 4,351st for girls in the US (32 babies).

What does Muriel mean?

Scottish

“sea”

A female given name from Scottish Gaelic of mostly British usage.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Is Muriel a girl's or a boy's name?

Muriel is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 32 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.

How popular is Muriel in the UK?

No girls in the UK were given it in 2025, or too few to be listed. Its busiest year was 2024, with 7 girls.

In the England and Wales top 100 for girls, which the ONS has published every ten years since 1904: 1904 (#46), 1914 (#41), 1924 (#33), 1934 (#52) and 1944 (#100).

1996Busiest: 7 in 20242024
Muriel in the UK, year by year
YearGirlsRank
20247#3,381
20234#4,915
20220–
20213#5,824
20200–
20191#7,346
20180–
20170–
20160–
20150–
20141#7,592
20130–
20121#7,881
20110–
20105#4,220
20090–
20080–
20071#7,017
20060–
20050–
20040–
20032#5,792
20020–
20010–
20003#4,074
19990–
19980–
19970–
19961#5,054

How popular is Muriel in the US?

Rank in 2025
#4,351among girls
Babies in 2025
32about 1 in 50,000 girls
Five-year trend
Risingup 85% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1%chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 32 girls in the US were named Muriel, making it the 4,351st most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 5,846th. Its busiest year was 1922, with 2,392 girls.

Half of all the girls named Muriel in the US since 1880 were born between 1919 and 1935, the years shaded on the chart below.

1880Busiest: 2,392 in 19222025
Muriel in the US, year by year
YearGirlsRank
202532#4,351
202450#3,176
202327#4,870
202222#5,635
202119#6,170
202020#5,846
201920#5,982
201819#6,244
201726#5,043
201621#5,983
201528#4,852
201430#4,655
201315#7,744
201216#7,452
201121#6,145
201022#5,975
200920#6,541
200831#4,760
200730#4,806
200633#4,357
200527#4,824
200427#4,812
200330#4,303
200238#3,519
200130#4,103
200032#3,881
199923#4,713
199841#3,065
199734#3,362
199645#2,710
199537#3,082
199424#4,233
199343#2,763
199234#3,261
199142#2,784
199037#3,017
198947#2,437
198837#2,798
198748#2,234
198659#1,889
198538#2,544
198436#2,573
198340#2,359
198243#2,288
198134#2,657
198051#2,043
197930#2,860
197850#1,938
197739#2,307
197627#2,791
197555#1,713
197441#2,029
197353#1,690
197246#1,832
197181#1,322
197076#1,369
196967#1,423
196882#1,196
196784#1,155
1966105#999
1965108#1,004
1964141#872
1963175#785
1962163#820
1961172#796
1960168#789
1959163#800
1958169#770
1957216#666
1956219#641
1955245#586
1954267#543
1953309#495
1952319#472
1951334#453
1950330#443
1949402#396
1948386#404
1947448#378
1946399#381
1945390#348
1944472#309
1943530#301
1942517#303
1941541#275
1940581#258
1939584#258
1938706#234
1937702#232
1936698#235
1935797#215
1934829#215
1933872#198
19321,046#181
19311,081#172
19301,341#155
19291,463#149
19281,661#139
19271,807#138
19262,027#129
19252,215#126
19242,237#126
19232,360#114
19222,392#112
19212,248#119
19202,071#123
19191,793#132
19181,797#130
19171,714#128
19161,524#134
19151,445#134
19141,133#133
1913882#137
1912695#155
1911353#203
1910365#187
1909311#190
1908262#207
1907219#222
1906220#207
1905186#230
1904214#205
1903220#191
1902206#205
1901195#206
1900224#210
1899167#212
1898129#267
1897152#221
1896144#231
1895108#269
189489#293
189387#289
189269#324
189159#325
189058#332
188953#341
188843#366
188729#403
188625#432
188526#405
188421#438
188318#451
188215#475
188111#503
18807#679

Names like Muriel

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Names related to Muriel

More Scottish names

Every Scottish name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Muriel: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/muriel, updated 20 October 2026.