Fun Facts About the Name Excel
- 54 babies named Excel: U.S. records list 54 babies given the name Excel from 1880 through 2025. Even 25 girls received the name Excel.
What Does the Name Excel Mean?
Excel is an English word name meaning "to surpass" or "to be eminent," from the Latin verb excellere. That Latin verb is formed from ex-, "out" or "beyond," and the root -cellere, "to rise," which is also related to celsus, "high." The literal idea is "to rise above" or "to stand out," and the English verb excel developed from this sense. As a personal name, Excel belongs to the English word-name category: the vocabulary word itself is used as a name rather than being a shortened form of a longer traditional name.
Excel Name History & Origins
The English verb excel comes from Middle English excellen, borrowed from Latin excellere. The Latin past participle excelsus, "high, lofty," is behind the related word excelsior and the phrase in excelsis in the Latin hymn Gloria in excelsis Deo. Those religious and literary uses belong to the history of the word, not to a continuous tradition of Excel as a given name.
As a personal name, Excel is a word name: it uses the English verb directly. Its formation differs from that of inherited biblical, saint's, or Germanic names, which passed through older naming traditions. The modern spreadsheet program Microsoft Excel also takes its name from the same English word, but that commercial use is separate from the name's etymology.
How Popular is the Name Excel?
Excel has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2022. Its best rank was #4,521 in 1922.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | #13,982 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2016 | #17,083 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2015 | #13,447 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2014 | #13,524 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #12,606 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2024 | #12,838 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2022 | #9,239 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2014 | #11,149 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1922 | #4,521 | 5 | 0.0005% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Excel Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are fine when in harmony but changeable when in discord, because many of your best qualities are then reversed. You are entertaining but may be impulsive. Freedom is a necessity, and you find it difficult to settle down. Your versatility results in many changes, and often brings travel. Your fine intellect is capable of high honors if applied seriously. You are capable of inspired thinking applied to material things. You can be restless, changeable, and very sexy. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.
Dependable, very down-to-earth and well grounded, you are always looking for meaningful work, a career where you can take pride in your work and do the best job you are capable of. Your prime desire is to build protected and secure environment at home and at work. You can be very persuasive in achieving goals and gaining objectives. You can be very detailed and well-organized and possess great organizational skills. At times you may appear too stubborn and overly critical to others, but your practical approach to life and productivity makes you one of the most beneficent members of community.
✦ Excel's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Excel's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.