How rare is the name Neal?

37,392 people in the United States have the first name Neal, about 1 in 8,077. It ranks #1,106 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NEAL

#1,106

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
37,392
About
1 in 8,077
This common or more
71.4%
Who bears it

Of the 37,392 people named Neal, 83.2% reported their origin as White, 5.9% as Asian or Pacific Islander and 5.5% as Black. Virtually all are male (99.5%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Neal peaked in 1959, when 1,222 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1959
Births that year
1,222
In 2025*
82 ▼93%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 55,305 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Neal by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1950s, when it ranked #467. The largest share of babies named Neal, 34.7%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#618361
1890s#738373
1900s#781472
1910s#7251,998
1920s#6293,924
1930s#5764,119
1940s#5296,175
1950s#46710,756
1960s#5439,379
1970s#6866,029
1980s#7655,436
1990s#1,2753,143
2000s#2,6651,371
2010s#3,1601,191
2020s#3,642578
Before 19011.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–2710.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4514.8%
Baby boom 1946–6434.7%
Generation X 1965–8018.9%
Millennials 1981–9613.3%
Generation Z 1997–124.2%
2013 and later2.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Neal is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Neal has been most common in Hawaii (2.9×), Nebraska (1.9×), and Iowa (1.8×), and least common in New Mexico (0.29×).

49,341 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Neal

#1,104 Lynette · 37,429#1,105 Trisha · 37,406#1,107 Delaney · 37,383#1,108 Raven · 37,274

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Neal, most common first.

#650 Neil · 81,118#3,063 Nell · 7,222#4,881 Neel · 3,673#11,472 Nehal · 1,115#16,739 Neale · 669#18,408 Neala · 586#20,005 Nel · 521#25,632 Nealy · 369

Also a last name

As a last name, Neal ranks #348 of 156,621, with 87,995 people. See Neal as a last name

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