Axelrod

Axelrod or Akselrod is a surname and may refer to:

• Daniel I. Axelrod, an American paleoecologist, botanist, and geologist, known by the author abbreviation "Axelrod"
• David Axelrod (musician) (b. 1936), an American classical musician known for use of drums and incorporation of different styles
• David Axelrod (political consultant), a political consultant who has worked on campaigns of Barack Obama and Richard M. Daley
• David B. Axelrod (b. 1943), an American award-winning poet and educator
• George Axelrod (1922–2003), an American screenwriter, producer, playwright and film director
• Herbert R. Axelrod (Dr.) (b. 1927), an ichthyologist currently in prison for tax evasion
• Jason David Axelrod AKA David Ha'ivri (b. 1967) Jewish-Israeli settler activist and spokesman
• John Axelrod (b. 1966), an American conductor
• Julius Axelrod (1912–2004), an American biochemist who won a share of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1970
• Lyubov Axelrod (1868-1946), a Russian Marxist philosopher and revolutionary
• Meer Akselrod (1902-1970), a Russian painter known for his paintings of Jewish life in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union
• Paul Axelrod (b. 1941), an author and a professor and dean at York University
• Pavel Akselrod (1850-1928), also spelled Pavel Axelrod, a Russian Menshevik revolutionary
• Robert Axelrod, an American professor of political science at the University of Michigan who has written about the evolution of cooperation
• Robert Axelrod (actor) (b. 1949), an American actor who has been in many movies and TV shows, often as a voice actor

Variant forms are Axeldar, Axelrood, Achselrad. Some explain the name as an inverted form of Alexander. Others see it as the German name Axel with various elaborations. Another explanation offered is that the name means shoulder or wheel (Achsel and Rad in German) and is a reference to the circular badge that Jews were forced to wear on their shoulders. While all these theories are interesting, they do not offer a clear answer.