How Many People Are Named Nigel?
An estimated 11,853 people in the United States have the first name Nigel. It is predominantly male (99.3%). The average bearer is 30 years old, and Nigel peaked in popularity in 1994 with 454 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Nigel 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 Nigel paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Nigel is overwhelmingly male, 85 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
11,853
About 1 in 28,917 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.3% confidence
Average Age
30
years old
Peak Year
1994
454 births
Total Registered
12,296
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Nigel
Nigel is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 12,296 total births registered, 99.3% were male.
Nigel as a male name
Ranked #2,200 in 2024
66 male births in 2024
Peak: 1994 (447 births)
Nigel as a female name
Ranked #11,403 in 1994
7 female births in 1994
Peak: 1977 (11 births)
Nigel: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Nigel span from the 1910s to the 2020s, covering 12 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1990s, when 3,808 babies were registered. Nigel has declined significantly from its peak in the 1990s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Nigel by Decade
How has Nigel 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.
Nigel by State
Birth registrations for Nigel span all 35 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, California, Georgia. The lowest are in Utah, Minnesota, Kansas. On average, about 262 Nigels were registered per state.
Nigel + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Nigel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Nigel
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
Nigel: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nigel?
We estimate approximately 11,853 people named Nigel 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 28,917 Americans share this first name.
Is Nigel a common name?
Nigel is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 97.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 12,296 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Nigel most popular?
Nigel reached peak popularity in 1994, when 454 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Nigel is approximately 30 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Nigel a male name?
Nigel is predominantly male. 99.3% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Nigel Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Nigel Smith, Nigel Johnson, Nigel 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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