How rare is the name Nell?

7,222 people in the United States have the first name Nell, about 1 in 41,821. It ranks #3,063 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NELL

#3,063

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
7,222
About
1 in 41,821
This common or more
81.6%
Who bears it

Of the 7,222 people named Nell, 84.7% reported their origin as White, 9.4% as Black and 2% as two or more races. 97.9% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Nell peaked in 1917, when 766 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1917
Births that year
766
In 2025*
128 ▼83%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 27,710 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.

Nell by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #264. The largest share of babies named Nell, 46.6%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#2641,345
1890s#2722,138
1900s#2912,441
1910s#3965,651
1920s#4876,063
1930s#5854,004
1940s#9502,074
1950s#1,5771,122
1960s#2,722462
1970s#3,707346
1980s#5,199271
1990s#6,705259
2000s#8,393259
2010s#5,080579
2020s#3,222696
Before 190113.5%
Greatest Generation 1901–2746.6%
Silent Generation 1928–4523%
Baby boom 1946–647.6%
Generation X 1965–802%
Millennials 1981–961.4%
Generation Z 1997–121.6%
2013 and later4.3%

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 Nell is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Nell has been most common in Alabama (5.8×), Mississippi (4.6×), and Tennessee (4.4×), and least common in New Jersey (0.06×).

17,912 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 Nell

#3,061 Essie · 7,235#3,062 Zechariah · 7,229#3,064 Jacey · 7,220#3,065 Kyung · 7,218

Spelled almost the same

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

#650 Neil · 81,118#1,106 Neal · 37,392#1,630 Nelly · 19,416#4,881 Neel · 3,673#6,649 Nella · 2,390#7,137 Nely · 2,162#8,610 Nelli · 1,679#10,046 Neill · 1,347

Also a last name

As a last name, Nell ranks #14,199 of 156,621, with 2,030 people. See Nell as a last name

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