Nelda
A feminine name of English origin meaning "prosperous protector".
Name Census estimates that about 7,443 living Americans carry the first name Nelda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nelda today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nelda births was 1938 (567 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nelda. 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
- • The typical person named Nelda is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Neldas were born before 1964.
People living today
7.4K
~ 1 in 46,051 Americans
Peak year
1938
567 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1935 SSA rank
#4,008
Tracked since 1884
Gender
Gender distribution for Nelda
Out of the 20,134 babies given the name Nelda since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Nelda as a male name
- Ranked #4,008 in 1935
- 5 male births in 1935
- Peak: 1935 (5 births)
Nelda as a female name
- Ranked #9,352 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1938 (567 births)
Popularity
Nelda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nelda from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 4,936 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nelda 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 Nelda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Neldas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. Texas, Louisiana, Alabama recorded the most babies named Nelda, while New Jersey, Maryland, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 469 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nelda
The name Nelda is believed to be of German origin, derived from the Old High German name Nieldrud or Nielhild, which is composed of the elements "nil" meaning "battle" and "hild" meaning "combat" or "fight." It was a popular name among Germanic tribes during the Middle Ages.
In its earliest recorded use, the name Nelda appeared as a variant spelling of Nieldrud in medieval German records and manuscripts dating back to the 9th and 10th centuries. It was particularly prevalent in regions that are now part of modern-day Germany and Austria.
One of the earliest notable individuals recorded with the name Nelda was Nelda von Bamberg, a Benedictine abbess who lived in the 11th century and oversaw the expansion of the Michaelsberg Abbey in Bamberg, Germany.
In the 13th century, Nelda von Rottenburg, a German noblewoman, was mentioned in chronicles as a benefactor of the Rottenburg Cathedral, contributing funds for its construction and maintenance.
During the Renaissance period, Nelda Fiore, an Italian painter and illustrator born in 1475, gained recognition for her detailed botanical illustrations and illuminated manuscripts commissioned by wealthy patrons in Florence.
In the 17th century, Nelda Kräuter, a German herbalist and apothecary born in 1620, published one of the earliest German-language books on the medicinal properties of plants and their uses in traditional remedies.
Another notable figure with the name Nelda was Nelda Pickering, an American educator and activist born in 1876, who advocated for women's suffrage and played a significant role in the establishment of the Texas Woman's University.
While the name Nelda has its roots in the Germanic languages, its use has spread to other cultures and regions over time, though it remains relatively uncommon in modern times.
People
Nelda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nelda 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
Nelda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nelda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,443 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nelda 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 46,051 US residents.
Is Nelda a common name?
We classify Nelda as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20,134 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nelda most popular?
The single biggest year for Nelda was 1938, when 567 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nelda is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Nelda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nelda 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.
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.