# Nels (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/nels/  
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 | Norwegian |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /nɛlz/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 3,841 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 3,841 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Etymology

Anglicization of Norwegian Nils and Swedish Nils, reflecting the pronunciation of the name among Scandinavian immigrants to North America, or matched to Nelson. Ultimately from Latin Nicolaus, from Ancient Greek Νικόλαος (Nikólaos).

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 12 | 6,878 |
| 2012 | 11 | 7,394 |
| 2013 | 7 | 10,407 |
| 2014 | 21 | 4,653 |
| 2015 | 14 | 6,212 |
| 2016 | 15 | 5,974 |
| 2017 | 16 | 5,709 |
| 2018 | 11 | 7,470 |
| 2019 | 13 | 6,674 |
| 2020 | 16 | 5,625 |
| 2021 | 23 | 4,454 |
| 2022 | 19 | 5,163 |
| 2023 | 19 | 5,193 |
| 2024 | 18 | 5,380 |
| 2025 | 22 | 4,656 |

## People named Nels

- Nels Cline, American guitarist and composer
- Nels Stewart, Canadian ice hockey player (1902–1957)

## 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.