How Many People Are Named Neil?
An estimated 74,464 people in the United States have the first name Neil. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 53 years old, and Neil peaked in popularity in 1954 with 1,964 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Neil as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Neil paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Neil is overwhelmingly male, 385 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
74,464
About 1 in 4,603 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.6% confidence
Average Age
53
years old
Peak Year
1954
1,964 births
Total Registered
104,966
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Neil
Neil is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 104,966 total births registered, 99.6% were male.
Neil as a male name
Ranked #863 in 2024
278 male births in 2024
Peak: 1954 (1,959 births)
Neil as a female name
Ranked #14,515 in 1990
5 female births in 1990
Peak: 1970 (14 births)
Neil: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Neil span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 17,774 babies were registered. Neil has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Neil by Decade
How has Neil tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 217 | 217 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 313 | 313 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 398 | 398 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 2,437 | 2,424 | 13 | |
| 1920s | 5,739 | 5,688 | 51 | |
| 1930s | 9,514 | 9,466 | 48 | |
| 1940s | 12,444 | 12,427 | 17 | |
| 1950s | 17,774 | 17,716 | 58 | |
| 1960s | 13,691 | 13,669 | 22 | |
| 1970s | 14,119 | 14,041 | 78 | |
| 1980s | 11,926 | 11,833 | 93 | |
| 1990s | 6,993 | 6,988 | 5 | |
| 2000s | 3,814 | 3,814 | 0 | |
| 2010s | 3,990 | 3,990 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 1,597 | 1,597 | 0 | |
Neil by State
Birth registrations for Neil span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, California, Pennsylvania. The lowest are in Delaware, Nevada, Alaska. On average, about 1,959 Neils were registered per state.
Neil + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Neil as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Neil
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
Neil: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Neil?
We estimate approximately 74,464 people named Neil are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 4,603 Americans share this first name.
Is Neil a common name?
Neil is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 104,966 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Neil most popular?
Neil reached peak popularity in 1954, when 1,964 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Neil is approximately 53 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Neil a male name?
Neil is predominantly male. 99.6% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Neil Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Neil Smith, Neil Johnson, Neil Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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