Holding steady.
Popularity of Ancil since 1888
Babies named Ancil per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1920, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Ancil's real moment was 1901.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 5 |
| 1890s | 10 |
| 1900s | 16 |
| 1910s | 166 |
| 1920s | 252 |
| 1930s | 215 |
| 1940s | 174 |
| 1950s | 109 |
| 1960s | 63 |
| 1970s | 36 |
| 1980s | 28 |
| 1990s | 15 |
| 2000s | 0 |
| 2010s | 10 |
| 2020s | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Ancil is a rare masculine name that saw its highest usage in the early 20th century, peaking in 1901 according to Social Security data. Its first recorded year of use in the United States was 1888, reflecting a period when many short, sturdy names were in vogue. The name never entered the top 1,000 rankings, and its trajectory has remained stable over the past century, with very sporadic usage. Ancil's etymology is uncertain, but it may be a variant of Ansel or Ancel, both of which have Germanic origins. The name has not been strongly associated with any particular region or notable figures, and it has no commonly recorded nicknames or variants beyond Ancel and Ansel. Today, Ancil remains an extremely uncommon choice, appealing to those seeking a distinctive yet straightforward name from an earlier era.
The name Ancil is of uncertain origin. It may be a diminutive of the Old German name Ansel, derived from ans 'god' and helm 'helmet', or a variant of Anselm. Alternatively, it could be a medieval English variant of Ancel, a name brought to England by the Normans from the Germanic Ansehelm. Ancil appears sporadically in English-speaking records from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in the United States.
Nicknames & variants
Sibling names for Ancil
Names that share Ancil's style, for a brother or sister.
