The baby name Axel blends Scandi style with a rock star edge.
Thanks to Rebecca for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE NAME AXEL MEAN?
At first glance, the baby name Axel looks like it might be a cousin to the popular classic Alexander.
Not so.
Instead, the Bible gave us Absalom, son of King David. A Hebrew name, name means my father is peace.
Only his story didn’t turn out that way.
Absalom was charming and handsome – and trouble, too.
He rebelled against his father raising an army and declaring himself King of Israel.
Things looked bleak, but David’s troops triumphed in battle, and the beloved son lost his life.
That lends the name Absalom a certain tragic note.
Even if you don’t know the Old Testament tale, the name that has become a lament, a synonym for a wayward son, thanks to William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize-winning novel Absalom, Absalom! and a host of literary references.
SCANDINAVIAN HERITAGE PICK
Absalom and Absalon are found in Scandinavia by the twelfth century.
Axel is simply the Scandinavian form of the Hebrew name Absalom.
How?
Absalom became Apsel in Danish, which isn’t much of a leap at all.
Variations like Axelen and Axelin appear, too.
Whisper it down the alley, and eventually the name reaches its current form.
Most famous figures have been Danish, Swedish, or Norwegian – but not all.
THE SWEDISH DIPLOMAT
Marie Antoinette, the ill-fated Queen of France, brings to mind Axel von Fersen. A Swedish nobleman and military officer turned diplomat, Axel became the queen’s close friend, and once helped the royal family attempt to escape the revolution.
Rumor had it that the queen and von Fersen were more than just friends. Hollywood loves the hint of romance and scandal. Actors have played the part of Fersen in movies from the earliest days to recent years. Jamie Dornan played von Fersen in the 2006 movie, opposite Kirsten Dunst in her towering wig.
THE FICTIONAL ADVENTURER
In 1864, Jules Verne gave the name to a character in Journey to the Center of the Earth. He’s the nephew to main character Otto.
The 1959 big screen adaptation called him Alec, but the novel remains widely read.
THE DARING SKATER
Way back in 1882, Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen became the first to execute the notoriously difficult figure skating jump that bears his name.
Fans of the sport have been watching skaters try to land triple axels in competition ever since. Since it’s a turn, it’s easy to forget that it’s named for a person called Axel and not the car part.
AXEL, AXLE, AXELL, ASKELL, and AXL
So how about those axles?
On a car, they’re the poles that hold the wheels. It shares roots with axis – no relation to Absalom at all.
It lends Axel a sort of gears-and-motors feel.
Sometimes Axel appears as a surname. It could be one more take on Absalom.
But it might also be an occupational surname – just not for a mechanic.
Instead, it could have been a name for a salt merchant: hakken (chop) plus salt. Hakkesalt, Aksalt, Aksal … Axel.
Or it might have developed from the Old Norse name Asketill, a combination of god and helmet, surviving in surnames like MacAskill.
Speaking of surnames, the original draft of what would become Beverly Hills Cop featured a police detective from East LA named Elly Axel.
Elly eventually became Axel Foley. Eddie Murphy took on the part, at a moment when he was already a major star. Foley became a Detroit cop out of place in Los Angeles for the 1984 smash hit.
“Axel F,” the movie’s theme song, also topped the charts. It’s a hallmark of the 1980s.
Foley’s Detroit backstory reinforced the name’s Motor City vibes.
Sequels followed in 1987 and 1994.
But the 1980s had more in store for this name.
In 1987, Los Angeles hard rock band Guns N’ Roses released their chart-topping debut album Appetite for Destruction.
More albums – and hit single after hit single – followed.
GNR frontman Axl Rose was born William Bruce Rose. He got his start singing in a church choir in Lafayette, Indiana. After escaping a troubled childhood, he moved to Los Angeles and formed a band called AXL. He liked the name so much, he eventually took it for himself, legally changing his name to W. Axl Rose.
The charismatic frontman was everywhere in the late 1980s.
No surprise that the one-two pop culture punch – Foley plus Rose – pushed the name higher.
HOW POPULAR IS THE BABY NAME AXEL?
The baby name Axel appeared in the United States’ Top 1000 most popular names from the 1880s into the 1910s before fading. That might reflect a swell of immigration from Scandinavian countries.
By the 1920s, the name languished in obscurity. It remained there for decades.
Until along came Axel Foley and Axl Rose.
In 1983, just 29 boys were named Axel. By 1986? There were 56.
By 1989, the baby name Axel had returned to the US Top 1000.
Axel didn’t immediately soar into the most popular names.
Instead, it slowly transformed from obscurity to mainstream favorite. A sibling name for Maverick, a substitute for the too-popular Alex, an alternative to Ryker or Jaxon.
As of 2023, Axel’s rank in the US is #72 – an all-time high.
It’s not the only spelling to consider:
- Axel was given to 4,498 boys, making it the 72nd most popular name for boys in the US.
- Axl comes in at #897, representing 256 births.
- 126 boys were named Axle.
- 93 more boys were named Axell.
- In addition, 12 girls were named Axel, as well as 11 Axelles, which is sometimes listed as a feminine form.
Five boys were named Jaxel, too, a Jax-Axel mash-up.
POP CULTURE POWERHOUSE
There’s no question that pop culture revived this once-traditional choice, introducing it to a wider audience.
- Argentine singer Axel launched his career in 1999.
- The Matrix Reloaded cast included an Axel in 2003.
- Video game Kingdom Hearts used the name for a character, as did Twisted Metal. Both were popular enough to potentially influence parents.
- From 2009 to 2018, sitcom The Middle gave us Axl Heck, oldest brother in the family.
- There’s a character named Axel Finke in the extended How to Train Your Dragon universe – but given the series’ Viking backstory, how could there not be?
- Disney Channel’s Sofia the First included a Prince Axel. (There really has been at least one Danish prince by the name.)
- Celebs like Will Ferrell and Fergie and Josh Duhamel, Seth Meyers, and Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney chose the name for their sons.
- In 2024, Eddie Murphy returned to the role of Axel Foley in the fourth installment of the Beverly Hills Cop franchise.
TRADITIONAL TOUGH GUY
Axel is a study in contrasts, and that’s why the name succeeds.
With Biblical roots and a long history of use, no one can call Axel invented.
The sound and pop culture references make this name modern and edgy. The letter X always helps.
It’s an irresistible combination, making Axel the perfect name for parents balancing tradition with a tough guy kind of image.
What do you think of the baby name Axel?
First published March 19, 2014, this post was updated and re-posted on July 31, 2019; January 18, 2023; and January 11, 2025.
I knew a mom who had an Axel. She said when all the kids were playing outside and one of them yelled his name, she invariably heard it as A$$hole, not Axel. She wanted to change his name.
Yikes!
Word of caution to anyone wanting to name their kid “Axel”. Its pronunciation in German is identical to the word for “armpit” (Achsel). I don’t know, just in case the parents travel a lot. Funnily enough the name Axel for boys in Germany isn’t even that uncommon (not for newborns but until the 80s it was). Go figure.
About that rise between 1999 and 2000… there’s an Argentine singer-songwriter who goes by the single name Axel whose chart-topping record came out in 1999 – perhaps Spanish speaking parents in the US were attracted by the fact that it is easily pronounced in both English and Spanish. The Spanish pronunciation by the way puts the stress on the second syllable: ahk-SEL.
Thanks for that, Christina – I’ll bet you’re right!
When we moved into our neighborhood one of our new neighbors had a little Aksel (Danish spelling,) at the time I thought his name was a bit eccentric but it fit their family. Fast forward to last year when they sold their house and the new family has also has an Axel!
Axel’s siblings are Maddox and Xzander so his parents must really like the letter “x”. 😉
A dear friend has a daughter named Axelle. Love that name. It’s not too hard to pronounce.
What do you think of Axelle? I’m not so sure of it as a first name here in the United States because of pronunciation issues, but I love it in the middle.
Back to Axel. In 1995, Playstation released “Twisted Metal,” the first of 8 games with the last being released in 2012. In it there is a character named Axel, and he was my first introduction to the name. I don’t know if the games had any influence on the popularity of the name, but he was a very memorable character in a very popular video game.
Wouldn’t it be a riot if Axel went to the girls with Axelle??!