Ethel

Ethel is a female given name: 99% of people named Ethel are women, and it is recorded as female in 6 of the 6 countries covered.

FemaleHigh

Male 1%Female 99%

Verdict: Female
Male / female split: 1% male / 99% female
Confidence: High (64 or more weighted country observations)
Most common in: United States, Great Britain, Sweden
US births since 1880: 1,490 male / 278,697 female
Data: nam_dict (GFDL) + US SSA
Updated: 2026-09-11

How to address Ethel

When you do not know their gender for certain, the full name with no title is the safe choice: "Dear Ethel," in English, "Guten Tag Ethel," in German. Ethel is a female given name: about 99% of people named Ethel are women. A quick look at a profile confirms it for certain.

Ready-made greetings in six languages

English

Dear Ethel,

German

Guten Tag Ethel,

French

Bonjour Ethel,

Spanish

Estimado/a Ethel:

Chinese

Ethel您好：

Japanese

Ethel様

English

Hi Ethel,

German

Hi Ethel,

French

Salut Ethel,

Spanish

Hola Ethel,

Chinese

Ethel你好：

Japanese

Ethelさん

Greeting generator

This is a statistical estimate, not a statement about the gender, identity or correct form of address of any particular person.

Country breakdown

Gender of the name Ethel by country (nam_dict, 55 country columns)
Country	How common	Usually	Male share
United States	very common	woman's name	1%
Great Britain	uncommon	woman's name	2%
Sweden	rare	woman's name	2%
Denmark	rare	woman's name	2%
Estonia	rare	woman's name	2%
Ireland	rare	woman's name	2%

United States birth data

1,490 male · 278,697 female · 280,187 births recorded

Male 1%Female 99%

Since 1980: 0% male.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ethel a male or female name?

Ethel is a female given name: 99% of people named Ethel are women, and it is recorded as female in 6 of the 6 countries covered.

How do I address Ethel in an email?

Is Ethel a unisex name?

Ethel is not a unisex name: 1% of people named Ethel are men. Ethel leans strongly female overall.

Sources

Gender by country: nam_dict, the c't first-names dictionary by Joerg Michael, roughly 44,000 names across 55 countries, licensed GFDL. US frequencies: United States Social Security Administration baby-name data, public domain. Method: how we classify names. Full dataset: data & licences. Data built 2026-09-11.

Cite this page

DearWho, "Is Ethel a male or female name?", https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/ethel (accessed 2026-09-11). Data: nam_dict (J. Michael, GFDL) and US SSA, built 2026-09-11.

BibTeX

@misc{dearwho_ethel,
  title  = {Is Ethel a male or female name?},
  author = {{DearWho}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/ethel},
  note   = {Data: nam_dict (GFDL), US SSA public domain}
}