# Nellie (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/nellie/  
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 | Nell, Nelly |
| US babies named this | 153,284 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 593 / 152,691 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 4,548, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Suffixed with -ie, compare Noll and Neddie, respectively from Oliver and Edward.

## 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 | 116 | 1,767 |
| 2012 | 139 | 1,572 |
| 2013 | 158 | 1,434 |
| 2014 | 183 | 1,303 |
| 2015 | 197 | 1,245 |
| 2016 | 202 | 1,222 |
| 2017 | 196 | 1,228 |
| 2018 | 239 | 1,070 |
| 2019 | 311 | 864 |
| 2020 | 325 | 842 |
| 2021 | 384 | 743 |
| 2022 | 446 | 663 |
| 2023 | 486 | 615 |
| 2024 | 592 | 521 |
| 2025 | 567 | 533 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1930 | 15 | 2,038 |
| 1931 | 16 | 1,903 |
| 1932 | 17 | 1,831 |
| 1933 | 13 | 2,065 |
| 1934 | 14 | 1,994 |
| 1935 | 15 | 1,897 |
| 1936 | 9 | 2,569 |
| 1937 | 10 | 2,427 |
| 1938 | 13 | 2,065 |
| 1939 | 10 | 2,400 |
| 1940 | 7 | 3,047 |
| 1941 | 8 | 2,816 |
| 1942 | 11 | 2,350 |
| 1945 | 5 | 3,638 |
| 1947 | 6 | 3,634 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 25 | 1,269 |
| 2012 | 47 | 812 |
| 2013 | 43 | 865 |
| 2014 | 59 | 668 |
| 2015 | 157 | 307 |
| 2016 | 159 | 310 |
| 2017 | 216 | 233 |
| 2018 | 291 | 180 |
| 2019 | 449 | 114 |
| 2020 | 400 | 120 |
| 2021 | 506 | 101 |
| 2022 | 496 | 101 |
| 2023 | 509 | 97 |
| 2024 | 500 | 93 |
| 2025 | 458 | 101 |

## People named Nellie

- Nellie Bly, American journalist
- Nellie Tayloe Ross, First woman state governor in the U.S.
- Nellie McClung, Canadian author, social activist, suffragette & politician (1873-1951)
- Nellie Connally, First Lady of Texas from 1963 to 1969
- Nellie McKay, American musician
- Nellie Halstead, British athlete (1910-1991)
- Nellie Lutcher, American singer (1912–2007)
- Nellie Fox, American baseball player and coach (1927–1975)
- Nellie Adalesa Brown, American botanist
- Nellie Pou, American politician (born 1956)
- Nellie Martel, Australian suffragist (1855–1940)
- Helen Herron Taft, First Lady of the United States from 1909 to 1913

## 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.