How Many People Are Named Niels?
An estimated 1,051 people in the United States have the first name Niels. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 42 years old, and Niels peaked in popularity in 1957 with 31 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Niels 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 Niels paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
1,051
About 1 in 326,122 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
100.0% confidence
Average Age
42
years old
Peak Year
1957
31 births
Total Registered
1,446
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Niels
Niels is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 1,446 total births registered, 100.0% were male.
Niels as a male name
Ranked #6,694 in 2024
13 male births in 2024
Peak: 1957 (31 births)
Niels: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Niels span from the 1890s to the 2020s, covering 14 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 180 babies were registered. While Niels is less common than at its peak in the 1950s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Niels by Decade
How has Niels 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.
Niels by State
Birth registrations for Niels span all 3 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Utah. The lowest are in Utah, New York, California. On average, about 28 Nielss were registered per state.
Niels + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Niels as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Niels
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
Niels: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Niels?
We estimate approximately 1,051 people named Niels 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 326,122 Americans share this first name.
Is Niels a common name?
Niels is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 90.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 1,446 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Niels most popular?
Niels reached peak popularity in 1957, when 31 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Niels is approximately 42 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Niels a male name?
Niels is predominantly male. 100.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Niels Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Niels Smith, Niels Johnson, Niels 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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