How Many People Are Named Nels?
An estimated 1,915 people in the United States have the first name Nels. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 52 years old, and Nels peaked in popularity in 1918 with 65 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Nels 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 Nels paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
1,915
About 1 in 178,984 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
100.0% confidence
Average Age
52
years old
Peak Year
1918
65 births
Total Registered
3,819
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Nels
Nels is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 3,819 total births registered, 100.0% were male.
Nels as a male name
Ranked #5,366 in 2024
18 male births in 2024
Peak: 1918 (65 births)
Nels: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Nels span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 454 babies were registered. Nels has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Nels by Decade
How has Nels 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.
Nels by State
Birth registrations for Nels span all 10 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Minnesota, California, Wisconsin. The lowest are in South Dakota, Nebraska, North Dakota. On average, about 74 Nelss were registered per state.
Nels + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Nels as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Nels
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
Nels: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nels?
We estimate approximately 1,915 people named Nels 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 178,984 Americans share this first name.
Is Nels a common name?
Nels is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 93.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 3,819 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Nels most popular?
Nels reached peak popularity in 1918, when 65 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Nels is approximately 52 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Nels a male name?
Nels is predominantly male. 100.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Nels Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Nels Smith, Nels Johnson, Nels 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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