How Many People Are Named Nell?
An estimated 5,078 people in the United States have the first name Nell. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 55 years old, and Nell peaked in popularity in 1917 with 766 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Nell 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 Nell paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Nell is overwhelmingly female, 98 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
5,078
About 1 in 67,498 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
99.6% confidence
Average Age
55
years old
Peak Year
1917
766 births
Total Registered
27,581
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Nell
Nell is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 27,581 total births registered, 99.6% were female.
Nell as a male name
Ranked #5,635 in 1977
6 male births in 1977
Peak: 1918 (9 births)
Nell as a female name
Ranked #1,460 in 2024
150 female births in 2024
Peak: 1917 (766 births)
Nell: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Nell span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 6,063 babies were registered. Nell has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Nell by Decade
How has Nell 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.
Nell by State
Birth registrations for Nell span all 36 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, Alabama, North Carolina. The lowest are in Utah, New Mexico, Idaho. On average, about 495 Nells were registered per state.
Nell + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Nell as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Nell
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
Nell: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nell?
We estimate approximately 5,078 people named Nell 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 67,498 Americans share this first name.
Is Nell a common name?
Nell is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 96.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 27,581 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Nell most popular?
Nell reached peak popularity in 1917, when 766 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Nell is approximately 55 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Nell a female name?
Nell is predominantly female. 99.6% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Nell Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Nell Smith, Nell Johnson, Nell 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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