How common is the surname Nelson?

424,958 people in the United States had the surname Nelson in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 727 Americans. It ranked 43rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Nelson?

Willie Nelson, American country musician (born 1933), followed by Ricky Nelson.

The surnameNelson

An English patronymic surname, the 43rd most common in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈnɛlsən/ 2 syllables Soundex N425 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Nelson is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

English origin

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".

Nelson is a patronymic surname: formed from a father’s (or ancestor’s) given name.

One of 1,446 English surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 424,958 people named Nelson in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 727 Americans. That is up 3.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 412,236.

#43

rank among US surnames

424,958

people in 2010

144

per 100,000 Americans

+3.1%

change since 2000 (was #40)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#34	King	465,422	663
#35	Wright	458,980	673
#36	Scott	439,530	702
#37	Torres	437,813	705
#38	Nguyen	437,645	705
#39	Hill	434,827	710
#40	Flores	433,969	711

Who is named Nelson

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

78% of people named Nelson identified as white (not Hispanic), 16% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 78%
Black (not Hispanic) 16%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 2.0%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Nelsons

101 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Willie Nelson
American country musician (born 1933)
Ricky Nelson
American musician and actor (1940–1985)
Bill Nelson
American politician and attorney (born 1942)
Craig T. Nelson
American actor and comedian (born 1944)
Tim Blake Nelson
American actor, director and writer (born 1964)
Ted Nelson
American information technologist, philosopher, and sociologist, born 1937
Barry Nelson
American actor (1917–2007)
Jameer Nelson
American basketball player (born 1982)
Judd Nelson
American actor, born 1959
Gaylord Nelson
American politician (1916–2005)
Adam Nelson
American shot putter, born 1975
Ben Nelson
37th Governor of Nebraska, born 1941

Notable Nelsons come mostly from the United States (90), the United Kingdom (4) and Australia (3).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Nelson

Nelson has the Soundex code N425, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code N425.

Other English surnames

All 1,446 English surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Nelson come from?: 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".
How common is the surname Nelson?: 424,958 people in the United States had the surname Nelson in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 727 Americans. It ranked 43rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Nelson?: In the 2010 Census, 78% of people named Nelson identified as white (not Hispanic), and 16% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Nelson?: Willie Nelson, American country musician (born 1933), followed by Ricky Nelson.