Niels
A masculine Danish name derived from a Norman French version of Nicholas.
Name Census estimates that about 1,051 living Americans carry the first name Niels. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Niels today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Niels births was 1957 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Niels. 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.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 326,122 Americans
Peak year
1957
31 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,694
Tracked since 1893
Popularity
Niels: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Niels from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 180 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Niels remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Niels 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 Niels during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Niels' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Utah recorded the most babies named Niels, while Utah, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Niels
The name Niels is a Danish and Norwegian form of the name Nicholas, which has its origins in the Greek name Nikolaos. Nikolaos is derived from the words "niko" meaning "victory" and "laos" meaning "people." The name Niels is thought to have emerged around the 13th century in Scandinavia.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Niels can be found in the 14th century Danish chronicle Rydårbogen, which mentions a man named Niels Bugge. Additionally, the name appears in various medieval Nordic texts and records.
In terms of historical figures bearing the name Niels, one notable example is Niels Stensen (1638-1686), a Danish scientist and geologist who made significant contributions to the study of anatomy and paleontology. Another prominent individual was Niels Bohr (1885-1962), a Danish physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922 for his work on atomic structure and quantum theory.
Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829) was a Norwegian mathematician who made groundbreaking contributions to the fields of algebra and calculus, despite his tragically short life. His work laid the foundations for modern algebraic geometry.
In the world of exploration, Niels Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832-1901) was a Finnish-Swedish explorer and scientist who led the first successful expedition to navigate the Northeast Passage, a sea route along the northern coast of Eurasia.
Another noteworthy figure was Niels Gade (1817-1890), a Danish composer and violinist who played a significant role in the development of Romantic-era music in Scandinavia, particularly with his symphonic works.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Niels
People
Niels + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Niels 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
Niels: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Niels?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,051 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Niels 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 326,122 US residents.
Is Niels a common name?
We classify Niels as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,446 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Niels most popular?
The single biggest year for Niels was 1957, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Niels is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Niels a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Niels 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.
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.