Neil
Of English origin meaning "cloud" or "champion".
Name Census estimates that about 74,464 living Americans carry the first name Neil. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Neil today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Neil births was 1954 (1,964 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Neil. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Neil with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Neil is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 385 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
74K
~ 1 in 4,603 Americans
Peak year
1954
1,964 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2024 SSA rank
#863
Tracked since 1880
Census
Neil in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 81,116 people with the first name Neil, which placed it at #650 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#650
National first-name rank
People counted
81K
81,116 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
26.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Neil
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Neil is White at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.6%) and Black (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Neil described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Neil at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.3% · 65,129
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.6% · 7,797
- Black or African American3.6% · 2,950
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 2,579
- Two or more races2.7% · 2,212
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 449
Gender
Gender distribution for Neil
Out of the 104,966 babies given the name Neil since 1880, 99.6% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Neil as a male name
- Ranked #863 in 2024
- 278 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1954 (1,959 births)
Neil as a female name
- Ranked #14,515 in 1990
- 5 female births in 1990
- Peak: 1970 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Neil appears almost entirely male. Of the 81,118 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Neil: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Neil from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 17,774 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Neil 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 Neil during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Neils live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Neil, while Delaware, Nevada, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,959 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Neil
The name Neil has its origins in the Gaelic language, derived from the Irish word "Niall" or "Nial," which means "champion" or "cloud." It traces its roots back to ancient Celtic cultures and is believed to have first emerged in Ireland and Scotland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in ancient Irish texts and legends, where it was borne by several Irish kings and warriors. The name gained prominence with the legendary High King of Ireland, Niall Noígiallach, who ruled in the 5th century AD and is renowned for his military conquests and the establishment of the Uí Néill dynasty.
The name Neil has a rich history in the British Isles and has been associated with several notable figures throughout the centuries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is Niall of the Nine Hostages (c. 379-405 AD), an Irish king known for his military campaigns and the expansion of his territory across Ireland and parts of Britain.
Another prominent figure bearing the name was Neil Gow (1727-1807), a Scottish violinist and composer who played a significant role in preserving and promoting traditional Scottish music. His compositions and arrangements have left a lasting legacy in the realm of Scottish folk music.
In the realm of literature, Neil Gunn (1891-1973) was a celebrated Scottish novelist and playwright known for his works that explored themes of Scottish identity and the relationship between humans and nature. His novel "The Serpent" is considered a classic of Scottish literature.
The name Neil has also been associated with scientific and technological advancements. Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, uttering the iconic phrase, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
In the world of music, Neil Young (born 1945) is a renowned Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist, known for his influential work across various genres, including folk, rock, and country. He has been a prominent figure in the music industry for over five decades and continues to inspire generations of musicians.
While the name Neil has its roots in ancient Celtic cultures, it has transcended its origins and has been embraced across various regions and cultures, carrying with it a rich history and a legacy of notable individuals who have left an indelible mark on their respective fields.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Neil
People
Neil + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Neil 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
Neil: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Neil?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 74,464 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Neil 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 4,603 US residents.
Is Neil a common name?
We classify Neil as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 104,966 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Neil most popular?
The single biggest year for Neil was 1954, when 1,964 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Neil is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Neil in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 81,116 people with the name Neil, or 26.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #650 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Neil in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Neil?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Neil appears almost entirely male. Of the 81,118 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Neil?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Neil is White at 80.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.6%) and Black (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Neil most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Neil in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.3% (65,129 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Neil in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Neil a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Neil in the SSA data are male. 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 Neil still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Neil 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 Neil 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.
How many Americans are named Neil?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.