Herschel, Herschell, Herschelle or Hershel, is a given name and a surname of German and Jewish origins. Notable people with the name include:
Herschel Whitfield Arant (1887–1941), American legal academic
Herschel Austin (1911–1974), British furniture-maker and politician
Benjamin Herschel Babbage (1815–1878) South Australian explorer
Herschel Baltimore (1921–1968), American basketball player
Walter Herschel Beech (1891–1950), American aviator
Herschel Bennett (1896–1964), American baseball player
Herschel Bernardi (1923–1986), American actor
Richard Hershel Bloom (born 1953), U.S. politician from California
Herschel F. Briles (1914–1994), U.S. Army soldier and Medal of Honor recipient
Herschel Bullen (1870–1966), American businessman
Herschel Burgess, American college football player
Herschel Caldwell (1903–1989), American college football player
Herschel L. Carnahan (1879–1941), U.S. politician from California
Herschel W. Cleveland (born 1946), U.S. politician from Arkansas
Herschel H. Cudd (1912–1992), American chemist
Herschel Daugherty (1910–1993), American film and television director
Hershel Dennis (born 1984), American football player
Herschel Evans (1909–1939), American saxophonist
Herschel Forester (born 1931), American football player
Herschel Friday (1922–1994), American lawyer
Herschel Garfein, American composer
Herschel Burke Gilbert (1918–2003), American composer
Herschelle Gibbs (born 1974), South African cricketer
John Herschel Glenn (1921–2016), American astronaut
Herschel Gluck, British rabbi
Hershel W. Gober (born 1936), former U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Harry Golden (1902–1981), born Herschel Goldhirsch, American newspaper publisher
David Herschel Goodman, American television writer and producer
Herschel Green (1920–2006), American flying ace
Hershel Greene, fictional character from The Walking Dead series
Herschel Lynn Greer (1906–1976), American businessman
Michael Herschel Greger (born 1972), American physician
Herschel Grynszpan (1921 – after 1942), assassin of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath
Herschel Hardin (born 1936), Canadian political activist
Herschel H. Hatch (1837–1920), U.S. politician from Michigan
Herschel M. Hogg (1853–1934), U.S. politician from Colorado
Herschel Lee Howell (1912–1990), Canadian politician from Saskatchewan
Herschel Johnson (1894–1966), U.S. diplomat from North Carolina
Herschel V. Jones (1861–1928), American newspaper publisher
Herschel Krustofski, fictional character from The Simpsons, better known as "Krusty The Clown"
Herschel Lashkowitz (1918–1993), U.S. politician from North Dakota
William Hershel Lattimore (1884–1919), American baseball player
Hershel Layton, protagonist of the Professor Layton fictional universe
Herschel Leibowitz (1925–2011), American psychologist
Herschell Gordon Lewis (born 1929-2016), a U.S. filmmaker, dubbed the Godfather of Gore
Herschel C. Loveless (1911–1989), 34th governor of Iowa
Patrick Jermaine Herschel van Luijk (born 1984), Dutch sprinter
Hershel Ray Martin (1909–1980), American baseball player
Heinrich Marx (1777–1838), born Herschel Mordechai, American lawyer and father of Karl Marx
Godlen Herschelle Derrick Masimla (born 1992), South African rugby player
Hershel Matt (1922–1987), American rabbi
Herschel Mayall (1863–1941), American actor
Herschel McCoy (1912–1956), American costume designer
Hershel McGriff (born 1927), American stock car racer
Clifford Herschel Moore (1866–1931), American Latin scholar
Hershel of Ostropol, a prominent figure in Jewish humor
Hershel Parker, American literary historian
Herschel Clifford Parker (1867–1931), American physicist
Hershel Reichman (born 1944), American rabbi
Herschel L. Roman (1914–1989), American geneticist
Herschel Rosenthal (1918–2009), U.S. politician from California
Hershel Sarbin, American lawyer
Hershel Schachter (born 1941), American rabbi
Herschel Schacter (1917–2013), American rabbi
C. Herschel Schooley (1900–1985), American newspaper editor
Hershel Shanks (born 1930), American archeologist
William Hershel Sharpe (born 1951), American television anchor
Herschel Sims (born 1991), American football player
Herschel Smith (1900–1964), American wrestler
Herschel Curry Smith (1903–1983), American track coach and athlete
Herschel Sparber (born 1943), American actor
Herschel Stockton (1913–1965), American football player
Arn Herschel Tellem (born 1954), American businessman
Herschell Turner (born 1938), American basketball player
Herschel Vespasian Johnson (1812–1880), U.S. politician from Georgia
Herschel Walker (born 1962), American football player
Eli Herschel Wallach (1915–2014), American actor
Herschel Weingrod (born 1947), American screenwriter
Hershel W. Williams (born 1923), U.S. marine and Medal of Honor recipient
Roger Herschel Zion (born 1921), U.S. politician from Indiana
The name is closely tied to the Herschel family, an Anglo-German family of astronomers:
William Herschel (1738–1822), astronomer and composer, discoverer of Uranus
Caroline Herschel (1750–1848), astronomer and singer, sister of Sir William Herschel
John Herschel (1792–1871), mathematician and astronomer, son of Sir William Herschel
Alexander Stewart Herschel (1836–1907), astronomer, grandson of Sir William Herschel
William James Herschel (1833–1917), grandson of Sir William Herschel
John Herschel the Younger (1837–1921), grandson of Sir William Herschel
Other notable people with the surname include:
Clemens Herschel (1842–1930), American hydraulic engineer
May Herschel-Clarke (1850–1950), English poet
Allan Herschell (1851–1927), creator of amusement park rides
Farrer Herschell, 1st Baron Herschell (1837–1899), former Lord Chancellor of Great Britain
Richard Herschell, 2nd Baron Herschell (1878–1929), British politician
Ridley Haim Herschell (1807–1864), Anglo-Polish minister
Rognvald Herschell, 3rd Baron Herschell (1923–2008), British politician
Solomon Hirschell (1762–1842), British rabbi
