Origin of the name Axel:
A borrowing from the Scandinavians, Axel is a cognate of the biblical Absalom, which is derived from the Hebrew ‘abshālōm (the father is peace). Var: Aksel, Apsel.
From A World of Baby Names by Teresa Norman. Buy the bookDoes Axel sound...
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Reader Contributions
Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Axel!
- Comments and insights on the name Axel: | Edit
I am a fairly young parent. My first son was born just before my 24th birthday. We named him Acksel. A modified version of Aksel. My husband is norwegian and we really wanted a scandinavian name. It could not suit my son more perfectly. I love that it is unique and that it has an edge to it. I think it is for lack of a better phrase "really bad ass name". When people first hear his name everyone asks if he was named after Axl Rose but its better that than one of the most common names on the planet. I couldnt be more happy with our choice it ROCKS!!!!
- Personal experiences with the name Axel: | Edit
When I was born (in 1936) there was no Babynamewizard in Germany, and so the family had a difficult time settling on a name for me. The final choices were Alexander and Axel, my father wanting the first and my mother the second. So, a compromise was struck: my legal name was to be Alexander, but the family would call me Axel. As I lived mostly with my mother's family, I was known to everyone in the family as Axel, but in school and officially I was still Alexander. As members of the family died out, fewer and fewer people called me Axel. Today, I am simply Alex. I'm not sure whether I'm happy or sad about this, but it is simply a personal experience relating to the difficulty of naming babies without babynamewizard.
- Nicknames for Axel: | Edit
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- Meanings and history of the name Axel: | Edit
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- Famous real-life people named Axel: | Edit
Not quite Axel, but Axl Rose of Guns 'n' Roses
Olympic gold medalist Axel Paulsen, inventor of the figure skating Axel jump
Axel Merckx, professional bicyclist, son of the great Eddy Merckx, professional bicyclist
Axel Springer, German journalist
- Axel in song, story & screen: | Edit
Axel, a protagonist in Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth
Axel Foley, Eddie Murphy's character in Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
NameVoyager US Popularity of Axel Over Time
NameMapper Current Popularity of Axel by State
Global Popularity of the Name Axel
- #15 in Sweden
- #61 in Iceland
- #69 in Belgium
- #141 in Norway
- #190 in Canada (Quebec)
- #272 in United States
- #338 in Canada (British Columbia)
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