Nereo
A name of Greek origin meaning "from the sea".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Nereo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nereo today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nereo births was 1999 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nereo. 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 Nereo. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1999
6 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2002 SSA rank
#11,924
Tracked since 1987
Census
Nereo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 406 people with the first name Nereo, which placed it at #23,937 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
#23,937
National first-name rank
People counted
406
406 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
88.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nereo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nereo is Hispanic at 88.9%. The next largest groups are White (5.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%). 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 Nereo 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 Nereo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino88.9% · 361
- White5.4% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 21
- Two or more races0.5% · 2
Popularity
Nereo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nereo from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 11 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Nereo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nereo 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 Nereo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nereos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nereo
The name Nereo originates from the Latin Nereus, which was the name of the ancient Greek sea god. Nereus was the eldest son of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia (the Earth) in Greek mythology. The name Nereo derives from the Greek word "naros," meaning "water that flows."
Nereus was a minor sea deity in Greek mythology, often considered one of the old "marine gods" who came before the Olympians. He was depicted as an old man with a flowing beard, often riding a dolphin or sea monster. Nereus had the gift of prophecy and was known for his wisdom and knowledge of the sea's mysteries.
The earliest recorded use of the name Nereo can be traced back to ancient Roman times, when it was occasionally given to individuals born near the sea or associated with maritime activities. One notable historical figure named Nereo was Nereo Diogene, a Roman philosopher who lived in the 3rd century AD and wrote about the nature of the soul.
In medieval Europe, the name Nereo fell out of common use but still appeared occasionally in coastal regions with strong maritime traditions. One notable bearer of the name was Nereo Acciaioli, an Italian nobleman and admiral who lived in the 15th century and played a significant role in the naval battles between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire.
During the Renaissance period, the name Nereo experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly in Italy, where it was often associated with the arts and literature. One notable figure was Nereo Sempronio, an Italian poet and playwright who lived in the 16th century and wrote works inspired by classical Greek mythology.
In more recent history, Nereo has been the name of several notable individuals, including Nereo Rocco, an Italian football player and manager who led the Italian national team to victory in the 1968 European Championship. Another notable bearer of the name was Nereo Costantini, an Italian architect who designed several iconic buildings in Rome during the early 20th century.
While Nereo is not a particularly common name today, it has a rich historical legacy and continues to be used in some regions, particularly those with strong maritime traditions or connections to Greek and Roman mythology.
People
Nereo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nereo 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
Nereo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nereo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nereo 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Nereo a common name?
We classify Nereo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nereo most popular?
The single biggest year for Nereo was 1999, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nereo is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nereo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 406 people with the name Nereo, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,937 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 Nereo 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 Nereo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nereo leans strongly male. 401 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 5 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Nereo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nereo is Hispanic at 88.9%. The next largest groups are White (5.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%). 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 Nereo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nereo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.9% (361 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 Nereo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nereo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nereo 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 Nereo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nereo 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 Nereo 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 Nereo?
See how many people have the name Nereo on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.