# Nelson (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/nelson/  
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 | English |
| Meaning | “son of nicholas” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈnɛlsən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Nel, Nellie |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 80,140 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 79,709 / 431 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 763, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Middle English Neil + -son and Nell + -son. * In the United States, also an Anglicisation of North Germanic (Scandinavian) surnames such as Nilsen, Nielsen, and Nilsson, equivalent to "son of Nicholas".

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 9 | 7,548 |
| 1987 | 5 | 12,631 |
| 1988 | 9 | 8,171 |
| 1989 | 8 | 9,377 |
| 1990 | 5 | 14,518 |
| 1992 | 8 | 10,173 |
| 1993 | 6 | 12,938 |
| 1994 | 8 | 10,238 |
| 1995 | 6 | 12,879 |
| 1999 | 5 | 16,136 |
| 2004 | 6 | 15,534 |
| 2019 | 5 | 17,301 |
| 2020 | 5 | 16,829 |
| 2022 | 5 | 17,057 |
| 2023 | 6 | 14,670 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 457 | 556 |
| 2012 | 466 | 558 |
| 2013 | 442 | 581 |
| 2014 | 409 | 645 |
| 2015 | 426 | 627 |
| 2016 | 431 | 622 |
| 2017 | 411 | 632 |
| 2018 | 374 | 672 |
| 2019 | 407 | 654 |
| 2020 | 388 | 670 |
| 2021 | 358 | 722 |
| 2022 | 315 | 799 |
| 2023 | 311 | 798 |
| 2024 | 323 | 778 |
| 2025 | 300 | 825 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 31 | 929 |
| 2012 | 40 | 793 |
| 2013 | 33 | 882 |
| 2014 | 36 | 837 |
| 2015 | 23 | 1,159 |
| 2016 | 40 | 801 |
| 2017 | 33 | 931 |
| 2018 | 30 | 958 |
| 2019 | 35 | 856 |
| 2020 | 27 | 1,019 |
| 2021 | 24 | 1,139 |
| 2022 | 25 | 1,104 |
| 2023 | 25 | 1,139 |
| 2024 | 19 | 1,402 |
| 2025 | 19 | 1,406 |

## In other languages

- Chinese: 納爾遜 /纳尔逊
- Korean: 넬슨
- Portuguese: Nélson

## People named Nelson

- Nelson Piquet, Brazilian racing driver (born 1952)
- Nelson Piquet Jr., Brazilian racing driver (born 1985)
- Nélson Luís Kerchner, Brazilian association football player
- Nelson Algren, American novelist, short story writer (1909-1981)
- Nelson Goodman, American philosopher (1906–1998)
- Nelson Eddy, American actor and singer (1901–1967)
- Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player (1872-1906)
- Nelson Vivas, Argentine professional football manager and former player
- Nelson Riddle, American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator (1921-1985)
- Nelson Prudêncio, athletics competitor (1944–2012)
- Nelson Pereira dos Santos, Brazilian film director (1928–2018)
- Charles Nelson Reilly, American comedian and actor (1931–2007)

## 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.