# Niels (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/niels/  
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 | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 1,462 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 1,462 / 0 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 37, 1996 to 2025 |

## 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 | 14 | 6,160 |
| 2012 | 15 | 5,906 |
| 2013 | 14 | 6,150 |
| 2014 | 17 | 5,415 |
| 2015 | 18 | 5,217 |
| 2016 | 21 | 4,721 |
| 2017 | 14 | 6,246 |
| 2018 | 7 | 10,425 |
| 2019 | 14 | 6,317 |
| 2020 | 12 | 6,914 |
| 2021 | 10 | 7,989 |
| 2022 | 18 | 5,365 |
| 2023 | 7 | 10,488 |
| 2024 | 14 | 6,381 |
| 2025 | 15 | 6,060 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 7 | 1,642 |
| 2000 | 3 | 3,036 |
| 2002 | 4 | 2,636 |
| 2004 | 4 | 3,009 |
| 2005 | 6 | 2,418 |
| 2007 | 3 | 4,333 |
| 2008 | 3 | 4,432 |
| 2010 | 3 | 4,678 |
| 2016 | 4 | 4,023 |

## People named Niels

- Niels Bohr, Danish physicist (1885–1962)
- Niels Ryberg Finsen, Faroese physician and scientist and Nobel laureate (1860–1904)
- Niels Kaj Jerne, Danish immunologist
- Niels Gade, Danish composer, conductor, violinist, organist and teacher (1817–1890)
- Niels Arestrup, French actor, film director and screenwriter (1949–2024)
- Poul Nielsen, Danish footballer (1891-1962)
- Niels Neergaard, Danish politician (1854-1936)
- Niels Schneider, Franco-Canadian actor
- Niels Brinck, Danish musician
- Niels Fredborg, Danish racing cyclist, born 1946
- Niels Helveg Petersen, Danish politician (1939-2017)
- Niels Arden Oplev, Danish film director

## 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.