first name
NEEL
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 3,673 people named Neel, 84.2% reported their origin as Asian or Pacific Islander, 6.9% as White and 6.1% as two or more races. 97.8% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Neel peaked in 2009, when 148 babies got the name.
At least 3,392 babies have been given the name since 1918. 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.
Neel by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2000s, when it ranked #3,460. The largest share of babies named Neel, 42.9%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.
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 Neel is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Neel has been most common in New Jersey (6.5×), California (3.2×), and Washington (2.4×), and least common in Pennsylvania (0.49×).
1,805 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 Neel
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Neel, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Neel ranks #5,017 of 156,621, with 6,778 people. See Neel as a last name
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