NameCensus.
Very Rare

Necol

A unique name with unclear origins or meanings.

Name Census estimates that about 26 living Americans carry the first name Necol. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Necol today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Necol births was 1969 (9 babies).

This page is the full Name Census profile for Necol. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.

Key insights

  • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Necol. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.

People living today

26

~ 1 in 13,182,859 Americans

Peak year

1969

9 babies that year

Average age

54

years old

1976 SSA rank

#10,356

Tracked since 1969

Popularity

Necol: popularity over time

The SSA tracks Necol from the 1960s through to the 1970s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 20 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.

Babies born per year

0257919701975

Decades

Necol by decade

The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Necol during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.

DecadeMaleFemaleTotal
1960s099
1970s02020

Origin

Meaning and history of Necol

The name Necol has its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, one of the earliest known written languages, dating back to around 3500 BCE. It is believed to be derived from the Sumerian words "ne" meaning "to call" and "col" meaning "radiant" or "shining." Thus, the name Necol can be interpreted as "the one who is called radiant" or "the one who shines."

Necol was a relatively common name among the ancient Sumerians, who inhabited the region of Mesopotamia, which is now modern-day Iraq. The name can be found in cuneiform inscriptions on clay tablets and other artifacts from the Sumerian civilization. Some scholars have suggested that Necol may have been the name of a minor deity or a legendary figure in Sumerian mythology, although concrete evidence of this is lacking.

One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Necol was a Sumerian scribe who lived in the city of Uruk around 2500 BCE. He is known for his contributions to the development of cuneiform writing and the preservation of Sumerian literature. Another notable bearer of the name was Necol of Lagash, a high-ranking official in the city-state of Lagash during the early Bronze Age, around 2350 BCE.

In the later periods of ancient Mesopotamian history, the name Necol seems to have fallen out of favor, likely due to the decline of the Sumerian language and culture. However, it resurfaced briefly in the 6th century BCE during the reign of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. A Persian nobleman named Necol is mentioned in the historical records of the time, though little is known about his life and achievements.

Over the centuries, the name Necol has been relatively uncommon, but there are a few notable individuals who bore this name. One such person was Necol of Carthage, a Punic merchant and navigator who lived in the 3rd century BCE. He is credited with establishing trade routes between the Mediterranean and West Africa, contributing to the expansion of Carthaginian influence in the region.

Another individual of note was Necol the Scribe, a Byzantine monk and calligrapher who lived in the 9th century CE. He is renowned for his exquisite handwritten manuscripts, which are considered masterpieces of Byzantine calligraphy. Necol of Antioch, a 12th-century physician and scholar from the city of Antioch, was also a prominent figure in the field of medicine during the medieval period.

While the name Necol has largely fallen into disuse in modern times, it remains an intriguing example of an ancient name with roots in one of the earliest civilizations known to humanity.

People

Necol + last name combinations

How many people share a full name with Necol as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.

Related

Other names starting with N

Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.

FAQ

Necol: questions and answers

How many people in the U.S. are named Necol?

Name Census puts the figure at roughly 26 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Necol going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 13,182,859 US residents.

Is Necol a common name?

We classify Necol as "Very Rare". It ranks above 44.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 29 babies have been registered with this name.

When was Necol most popular?

The single biggest year for Necol was 1969, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Necol is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.

What does the SSA popularity chart show?

The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Necol in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.

Is Necol a female name?

Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Necol in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.

Is Necol still being used today?

Yes. The SSA still recorded Necol in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.

Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?

Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Necol can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.

Where does this data come from?

First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.

Does every first name have Census demographic data?

No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.

How common is the name Necol?

Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Necol at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.

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There are 26 people

with the first name

Necol

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