# Anil (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/anil/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Sanskrit |
| Meaning | “hindu god of the wind” |
| Pronunciation | /əˈnɪl/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Aneel |
| US babies named this | 1,160 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 1,160 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 274, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Hindi अनिल (anil), Marathi अनिल (anil), Kannada ಅನಿಲ್ (anil), Tamil அனில் (aṉil), Malayalam അനിൽ (anil), Bengali অনিল (onil), Nepali अनिल (anil), Urdu اَنِیل (anīl), or Sinhalese අනිල් (anil), from Sanskrit अनिल (anila, “Hindu god of the wind”).

## What it means

Anil is grouped under wind.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 9 | 7,565 |
| 2005 | 10 | 7,138 |
| 2006 | 10 | 7,456 |
| 2007 | 6 | 11,014 |
| 2008 | 12 | 6,785 |
| 2009 | 10 | 7,721 |
| 2010 | 10 | 7,620 |
| 2011 | 7 | 9,669 |
| 2012 | 6 | 10,875 |
| 2013 | 7 | 9,713 |
| 2014 | 5 | 12,228 |
| 2017 | 5 | 12,384 |
| 2018 | 6 | 10,854 |
| 2019 | 9 | 8,253 |
| 2024 | 7 | 9,972 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 9 | 1,732 |
| 2005 | 10 | 1,716 |
| 2006 | 7 | 2,282 |
| 2007 | 10 | 1,885 |
| 2008 | 6 | 2,775 |
| 2009 | 7 | 2,544 |
| 2010 | 5 | 3,332 |
| 2011 | 8 | 2,390 |
| 2012 | 6 | 3,039 |
| 2013 | 7 | 2,660 |
| 2014 | 5 | 3,362 |
| 2017 | 6 | 3,040 |
| 2018 | 3 | 4,749 |
| 2019 | 3 | 4,702 |
| 2022 | 4 | 4,001 |

## People named Anil

- Anil Kumble, former Indian cricketer
- Anil Seth, British neuroscientist
- Anil Nerode, American mathematician
- Anil Agarwal, businessman
- Anil Ramdas, Dutch-Surinamese journalist

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.