# Niall (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/niall/  
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 | Irish |
| Meaning | “cloud”, “champion”, “to revile” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈnaɪəl/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 2,094 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 2,094 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 5,792, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Irish Niall or Scottish Gaelic Niall, ultimately from Old Irish Níall, of uncertain original meaning. Suggestions include nél (“cloud”) and nïa (“champion”), which is from Proto-Indo-European *h₃neyd- (“to revile”). Doublet of Neil.

## 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 | 34 | 3,286 |
| 2012 | 43 | 2,805 |
| 2013 | 69 | 2,004 |
| 2014 | 64 | 2,150 |
| 2015 | 55 | 2,380 |
| 2016 | 53 | 2,429 |
| 2017 | 76 | 1,908 |
| 2018 | 96 | 1,668 |
| 2019 | 68 | 2,122 |
| 2020 | 66 | 2,129 |
| 2021 | 84 | 1,850 |
| 2022 | 77 | 1,992 |
| 2023 | 90 | 1,799 |
| 2024 | 110 | 1,578 |
| 2025 | 96 | 1,706 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 148 | 298 |
| 2012 | 161 | 286 |
| 2013 | 165 | 280 |
| 2014 | 155 | 295 |
| 2015 | 130 | 353 |
| 2016 | 111 | 395 |
| 2017 | 118 | 383 |
| 2018 | 102 | 414 |
| 2019 | 94 | 435 |
| 2020 | 93 | 431 |
| 2021 | 76 | 514 |
| 2022 | 63 | 592 |
| 2023 | 57 | 625 |
| 2024 | 62 | 613 |
| 2025 | 46 | 745 |

## People named Niall

- Niall Ferguson, British historian
- Niall Matter, Canadian-American actor
- Niall Mackenzie, British motorcycle racer
- Niall Binns, English poet

## 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.