Entry № 2258 · English origin

Hazel Hazel — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ HAY-zel /
Gender
Girl
Origin
English
Meaning
"The hazel tree"
Syllables
2
Rank · US 2025
№ 27
First recorded
19th c. as given name

A name that means "the hazel tree".

Hazel is the English name for the tree (Corylus avellana) and its nuts. The hazel was associated in Celtic folklore with wisdom — eating hazelnuts, in some myths, conferred poetic inspiration. The colour hazel (the warm brown of eyes that are neither brown nor green) takes its name from the same tree.

Like Violet and Rose, Hazel was a Victorian-era botanical name that vanished in the mid-twentieth century and has returned dramatically in the 2010s. Today it sits in the U.S. top 30 — part of a broader return to short nature names.

A tree, a colour, a quiet old name with a soft modern sound.

The name in its native script.

Hazel
Transliteration
Hazel
Pronunciation
/ ˈheɪ.zəl /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Hazel stands.

Current rank · 2025
№ 27 in the U.S.
All-time peak
№ 27 in 2025
Babies named Hazel · last year
6184 in the U.S.
First entered SSA top-1000
1880
Rank, 1995–2025 Lower = more popular
№25 №75 №150 №250 1995 2005 2015 2020 2025 PEAK · №27 NOW · №27

Hazels before her.

Real people
Hazel Scott
Trinidadian-American jazz and classical pianist. First Black woman to host her own American television show.
1920 – 1981
In fiction
Hazel Lancaster
Heroine of John Green's The Fault in Our Stars.
2012 novel
Hazel
Rabbit and leader in Richard Adams's Watership Down.
1972 novel

Names connected to Hazel.

The number behind Hazel.

1

The Pioneer

Hazel reduces to one — the number of independence and originality.

Why families chose this name.

"We wanted a tree name but Willow felt too on-trend. Hazel was the one that felt steady."
Sarah · Mother of one · Brooklyn