# Nelle (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/nelle/  
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 | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 5,794 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 0 / 5,794 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 227, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Ellen spelled backwards. Popularized by author Harper Lee, whose first name Nelle was so derived from her grandmother’s.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 5 | 18,786 |
| 2012 | 12 | 9,554 |
| 2013 | 7 | 14,209 |
| 2014 | 10 | 10,724 |
| 2015 | 18 | 6,911 |
| 2016 | 17 | 7,142 |
| 2017 | 15 | 7,738 |
| 2018 | 28 | 4,858 |
| 2019 | 32 | 4,416 |
| 2020 | 37 | 3,892 |
| 2021 | 29 | 4,703 |
| 2022 | 26 | 5,130 |
| 2023 | 34 | 4,257 |
| 2024 | 26 | 5,105 |
| 2025 | 33 | 4,325 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 3 | 5,707 |
| 2011 | 4 | 4,764 |
| 2013 | 3 | 5,742 |
| 2014 | 4 | 4,684 |
| 2015 | 8 | 2,945 |
| 2016 | 13 | 2,120 |
| 2017 | 18 | 1,681 |
| 2018 | 5 | 3,985 |
| 2019 | 21 | 1,439 |
| 2020 | 19 | 1,556 |
| 2021 | 29 | 1,161 |
| 2022 | 21 | 1,452 |
| 2023 | 26 | 1,255 |
| 2024 | 16 | 1,819 |
| 2025 | 18 | 1,639 |

## 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.