How Many People Are Named Nelly?
An estimated 6,625 people in the United States have the first name Nelly. It is predominantly female (99.1%). The average bearer is 29 years old, and Nelly peaked in popularity in 2007 with 213 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Nelly 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 Nelly paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Nelly is overwhelmingly female, 70 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
6,625
About 1 in 51,737 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
99.1% confidence
Average Age
29
years old
Peak Year
2007
213 births
Total Registered
7,689
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Nelly
Nelly is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 7,689 total births registered, 99.1% were female.
Nelly as a male name
Ranked #11,878 in 2024
6 male births in 2024
Peak: 2021 (9 births)
Nelly as a female name
Ranked #1,358 in 2024
168 female births in 2024
Peak: 2007 (208 births)
Nelly: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Nelly span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2000s, when 1,627 babies were registered. While Nelly is less common than at its peak in the 2000s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Nelly by Decade
How has Nelly 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.
Nelly by State
Birth registrations for Nelly span all 20 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Utah, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. On average, about 243 Nellys were registered per state.
Nelly + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Nelly as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Nelly
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
Nelly: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nelly?
We estimate approximately 6,625 people named Nelly 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 51,737 Americans share this first name.
Is Nelly a common name?
Nelly is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 97.1% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 7,689 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Nelly most popular?
Nelly reached peak popularity in 2007, when 213 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Nelly is approximately 29 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Nelly a female name?
Nelly is predominantly female. 99.1% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Nelly Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Nelly Smith, Nelly Johnson, Nelly 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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