Fun Facts About the Name Feivel
- 17 babies named Feivel: U.S. records list 17 babies given the name Feivel from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Feivel Mean?
Feivel is a Yiddish masculine name with the established meaning "bright" or "radiant." Its usual source is the Yiddish name Feibush (also spelled Fayvush or Feivish), a Jewish adoption of Greek Phoibos (Latin Phoebus), an epithet of Apollo. Feivel is often described as a diminutive of Feibush; the ending -el gives it a familiar or affectionate form.
In Ashkenazi practice, Feivel was also linked to Hebrew names for light. It appears in double names such as Shraga Feivel, with Aramaic Shraga meaning "candle," and it was used as a vernacular counterpart to Uri, "my light." These are customary associations built on the name's meaning, not a second etymology.
Feivel Name History & Origins
Feivel belongs to the Ashkenazi Jewish naming tradition, which developed in German-speaking Central Europe and spread eastward into Poland, Ukraine, and other Yiddish-speaking areas. In medieval Ashkenazi communities, Phoebus and its Yiddish forms belonged to the class of vernacular names used alongside a Hebrew religious name; Feivel developed within that usage. The forms Feibush, Fayvush, Feivish, and Feivel coexisted in Yiddish, with Feivel serving as the familiar form.
Yiddish-speaking immigrants brought Feivel and its variants to North America and other English-speaking countries. The spelling Fievel is familiar from the animated film An American Tail (1986), whose mouse hero is Fievel Mousekewitz; that is a modern literary use of a variant spelling, not the source of the name.
How Popular is the Name Feivel?
Feivel 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 2019. Its best rank was #10,079 in 2019.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | #12,820 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2020 | #12,659 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2019 | #10,079 | 7 | 0.0004% |
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.
Most Popular Boy Names That Start with F
How the Name Feivel Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are kind, home-loving, hospitable and friendly. Since you take responsibility well, you are a good organizer of social affairs. Compassion for others is an outstanding trait. You are a great lover and a great flirt – an artist, musician, actor, teacher, nurse. Your character can be contradictory. You are practical, yet idealistic and intuitive; capable of selfless devotion to someone you love, yet look to receive payback. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.
You are seeking freedom, opportunities to enjoy life: to make love, to go places and to do things. You are very adventurous and willing to take risk to achieve your objectives. New ways and new experiences can't satisfy your restless nature. One adventure leads you to another. You are honest and fair, because you know that this is the only way to receive justice and honesty from other people. But your personal growth is vital for you, and it is difficult to be tied down by rules and obligations. Your restless spirit might best controlled by choosing the field of work that meet your demand for action and adventure.
✦ Feivel's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Feivel's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.