# Neo (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/neo/  
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 | not recorded |
| Meaning | “new”, “(the) one” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 3,123 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 3,117 / 6 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,617, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Recent coinage from the prefix neo- (“new”). Popularized by a character in the science-fiction film The Matrix (1999), where it is explained as an anagram of "(the) One".

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 6 | 14,762 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 78 | 1,832 |
| 2012 | 69 | 2,026 |
| 2013 | 60 | 2,193 |
| 2014 | 93 | 1,663 |
| 2015 | 81 | 1,840 |
| 2016 | 100 | 1,617 |
| 2017 | 84 | 1,807 |
| 2018 | 145 | 1,274 |
| 2019 | 124 | 1,417 |
| 2020 | 180 | 1,101 |
| 2021 | 227 | 980 |
| 2022 | 240 | 949 |
| 2023 | 226 | 975 |
| 2024 | 236 | 964 |
| 2025 | 204 | 1,066 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 3 | 4,373 |
| 2011 | 4 | 4,764 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 48 | 671 |
| 2012 | 57 | 619 |
| 2013 | 42 | 762 |
| 2014 | 51 | 659 |
| 2015 | 45 | 727 |
| 2016 | 51 | 681 |
| 2017 | 58 | 621 |
| 2018 | 56 | 636 |
| 2019 | 46 | 723 |
| 2020 | 50 | 679 |
| 2021 | 85 | 475 |
| 2022 | 74 | 528 |
| 2023 | 63 | 587 |
| 2024 | 70 | 545 |
| 2025 | 47 | 735 |

## In other languages

- French: Néo
- Swedish: Neo

## 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.