Manuel: Meaning, origin and popularity

Pronounced mahn-WEL · 2 syllables

Borrowed from Spanish and Portuguese Manuel, short for Emanuel.

How popular is Manuel?

Manuel was the #371 name in the US in 2025, given to 860 babies. It’s used less than it was: down 31% on 2011–2015. It peaked around 1920.

Babies named Manuel in the US by five-year period, relative to its peak (around 1920).

Half of US adults named Manuel are older than 43; most are between 20 and 80. (Estimated from US births by year and life tables.)

Names that real brothers and sisters of people named Manuel have, from family records on Wikidata, most common first.

Chosen by the same families or with a similar style and era.

Manuel is pronounced mahn-WEL.

Manuel was the #371 name in the US in 2025, given to 860 babies. It’s used less than it was: down 31% on 2011–2015. It peaked around 1920.

Half of US adults named Manuel are older than 43. Most are between 20 and 80.