Neymar
A masculine Portuguese name meaning "new homeland" or "new life".
Name Census estimates that about 2,828 living Americans carry the first name Neymar. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Neymar today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Neymar births was 2014 (504 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Neymar. 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 Neymar with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Neymar is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 121,200 Americans
Peak year
2014
504 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,295
Tracked since 2010
Gender
Gender distribution for Neymar
Out of the 2,849 babies given the name Neymar since 1880, 99.8% 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.
Neymar as a male name
- Ranked #2,295 in 2024
- 62 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (499 births)
Neymar as a female name
- Ranked #18,477 in 2014
- 5 female births in 2014
- Peak: 2014 (5 births)
Popularity
Neymar: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Neymar from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,431 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Neymar 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 Neymar during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Neymars live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Neymar, while South Carolina, Nebraska, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 68 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Neymar
The name Neymar has its origins in the Portuguese language and is believed to have emerged in the late 19th or early 20th century. It is thought to be a combination of the name Ney, which is a shortened form of the Portuguese name Inácio, and the suffix "-mar," which is derived from the Latin word "mare," meaning "sea."
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Neymar can be found in the writings of Brazilian author Monteiro Lobato, who created a character named Neymar in his children's book series "Sítio do Picapau Amarelo" (The Yellow Woodpecker Ranch), published in the 1920s. However, the name did not gain widespread popularity until the mid-20th century.
Historically, the name Neymar has been relatively uncommon, and there are few well-known individuals from earlier times who bore this name. One notable exception is Neymar de Souza, a Brazilian footballer who played as a defender for various clubs in the 1940s and 1950s.
In more recent history, the name Neymar has become closely associated with the Brazilian football player Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, born in 1992, who is widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation. His success and fame have undoubtedly contributed to the growing popularity of the name Neymar, particularly in Brazil and other Portuguese-speaking countries.
Other notable individuals who have borne the name Neymar include Neymar Fernandes de Souza (1932-2022), a Brazilian actor and comedian; Neymar Gomes (born 1983), a Brazilian mixed martial artist; and Neymar Dias (born 1985), a Brazilian volleyball player.
While the name Neymar has its roots in Portuguese, it has also been adopted in various other cultures and languages, particularly in the context of sports and entertainment, where the influence of Brazilian football and culture has been significant.
People
Neymar + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Neymar 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
Neymar: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Neymar?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,828 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Neymar 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 121,200 US residents.
Is Neymar a common name?
We classify Neymar as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,849 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Neymar most popular?
The single biggest year for Neymar was 2014, when 504 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Neymar is about 11 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 Neymar in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Neymar a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Neymar 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 Neymar still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Neymar 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 Neymar 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 many Americans are named Neymar?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.