How common is the surname Nail?

7,133 people in the United States had the surname Nail in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 43,284 Americans. It ranked 4,936th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Nail?

David Nail, American country musician.

Where is the surname Nail most common?

Wikidata records people named Nail in the United States.

Is the surname Nail getting more or less common?

More common. 5,316 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,133 in 2010, up 34%.

The surname Nail

An occupational surname, carried by 7,133 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex N400

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Nail is more common than 97% of them.

Origin

From nail, hence a metonymic occupational surname for a maker of nails, or a nickname for a tall and slender person.

Nail is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 7,133 people named Nail in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 43,284 Americans. That is up 34% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,316.

#4,936

rank among US surnames

7,133

people in 2010

2.4

per 100,000 Americans

+34.2%

change since 2000 (was #5,963)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,932	Hung	7,137	43,260
#4,933	Loving	7,135	43,272
#4,934	Bocanegra	7,134	43,278
#4,936	Ridge	7,133	43,284
#4,938	Moll	7,131	43,296

Who is named Nail

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

87% of people named Nail identified as white (not Hispanic), 5.4% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 87%
Black (not Hispanic) 5.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native 2.3%
Two or more races 2.1%
Asian and Pacific Islander 1.0%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Nails

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

David Nail
American country musician, born 1979

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Naill

Surnames that sound like Nail

Nail has the Soundex code N400, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code N400.

Questions

Where does the surname Nail come from?: From nail, hence a metonymic occupational surname for a maker of nails, or a nickname for a tall and slender person.
How common is the surname Nail?: 7,133 people in the United States had the surname Nail in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 43,284 Americans. It ranked 4,936th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Nail?: In the 2010 Census, 87% of people named Nail identified as white (not Hispanic), and 5.4% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Nail?: David Nail, American country musician.
Where is the surname Nail most common?: Wikidata records people named Nail in the United States.
What type of surname is Nail?: Nail is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Nail getting more or less common?: More common. 5,316 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 7,133 in 2010, up 34%.
What are other spellings of Nail?: Naill.