# Neil (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/neil/  
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 | Irish |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /niːl/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Neal, Neale, Neill |
| US babies named this | 105,254 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 104,869 / 385 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,491, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Anglicized form of Goidelic/Irish Niall. Doublet of Niall.

## 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, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 8 | 7,058 |
| 1977 | 5 | 10,721 |
| 1978 | 10 | 6,250 |
| 1979 | 5 | 11,359 |
| 1980 | 12 | 5,793 |
| 1981 | 13 | 5,484 |
| 1982 | 10 | 6,701 |
| 1983 | 12 | 5,709 |
| 1984 | 6 | 9,963 |
| 1985 | 11 | 6,321 |
| 1986 | 7 | 9,252 |
| 1987 | 6 | 10,811 |
| 1988 | 7 | 10,020 |
| 1989 | 9 | 8,528 |
| 1990 | 5 | 14,515 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 358 | 660 |
| 2012 | 391 | 622 |
| 2013 | 394 | 624 |
| 2014 | 397 | 656 |
| 2015 | 414 | 641 |
| 2016 | 425 | 629 |
| 2017 | 422 | 618 |
| 2018 | 427 | 625 |
| 2019 | 422 | 639 |
| 2020 | 324 | 751 |
| 2021 | 360 | 719 |
| 2022 | 330 | 766 |
| 2023 | 305 | 806 |
| 2024 | 280 | 865 |
| 2025 | 288 | 851 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 64 | 546 |
| 2012 | 45 | 734 |
| 2013 | 32 | 910 |
| 2014 | 42 | 754 |
| 2015 | 30 | 977 |
| 2016 | 51 | 681 |
| 2017 | 38 | 833 |
| 2018 | 15 | 1,610 |
| 2019 | 29 | 974 |
| 2020 | 17 | 1,431 |
| 2021 | 26 | 1,078 |
| 2022 | 26 | 1,084 |
| 2023 | 33 | 929 |
| 2024 | 32 | 968 |
| 2025 | 34 | 914 |

## In other languages

- Bulgarian: Нийл
- Catalan: Nil
- Georgian: ნილ, ნილი
- Icelandic: Njáll
- Russian: Нил, Нейл

## People named Neil

- Neil Armstrong, American astronaut and lunar explorer (1930–2012)
- Neil Gaiman, English writer (born 1960)
- Neil deGrasse Tyson, American astrophysicist and science communicator
- Neil Young, Canadian singer, songwriter and filmmaker (born 1945)
- Neil Patrick Harris, American actor (born 1973)
- Neil Diamond, American singer-songwriter
- Neil Simon, American playwright, writer, and academic (1927–2018)
- Neil Postman, American writer and academic (1931-2003)
- Neil Sedaka, American singer (1939–2026)
- Neil Robertson, Australian professional snooker player
- Neil Gorsuch, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 2017 (born 1967)
- Neil Peart, Canadian-American drummer (1952–2020)

## 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.