Nilson
Son or descendant of the champion or victorious one.
Name Census estimates that about 339 living Americans carry the first name Nilson. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nilson today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nilson births was 2007 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nilson. 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
339
~ 1 in 1,011,075 Americans
Peak year
2007
17 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,353
Tracked since 1982
Census
Nilson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,132 people with the first name Nilson, which placed it at #11,369 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
#11,369
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,132 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
74.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nilson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nilson is Hispanic at 74.6%. The next largest groups are White (16.2%) and Black (4.9%). 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 Nilson 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 Nilson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino74.6% · 844
- White16.2% · 183
- Black or African American4.9% · 56
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 30
- Two or more races1.3% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Popularity
Nilson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nilson from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 115 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nilson 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 Nilson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nilsons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nilson
The name Nilson is a Scandinavian name with origins rooted in the Old Norse language. It is derived from the combination of the words "Nill" and "son", with "Nill" being a variation of the name Niels, which itself is derived from the ancient Scandinavian name Nigils or Nigel. The first part of the name, "Ni", is believed to have originated from the Old Norse word "ny", meaning "new" or "fresh", while the latter part, "gils", is thought to have meant "hostage" or "pledge".
The earliest recorded use of the name Nilson can be traced back to the Viking Age in Scandinavia, particularly in Norway and Sweden, where it was a common name among the Norse people. During this time period, the name was often associated with those of noble or prestigious lineage.
In the medieval period, the name Nilson gained popularity across various regions of Scandinavia and Northern Europe. It can be found in several historical records and documents from this era, including the Icelandic Sagas and the Danish Chronicles.
One of the earliest notable figures bearing the name Nilson was Nilson Stjernkors, a Swedish nobleman and military commander who lived in the 13th century. He played a crucial role in the Swedish-Novgorodian Wars and is mentioned in several historical accounts from that time.
Another significant figure was Nilson Vasa, a Swedish clergyman and scholar who lived in the 16th century (1510-1567). He was a prominent figure in the Swedish Reformation and served as the Archbishop of Uppsala.
In the 17th century, Nilson Stjernsvärd (1617-1683) was a Swedish military officer and politician who held the position of Lord High Constable of Sweden.
During the 18th century, Nilson Eskilsson (1714-1794) was a Swedish botanist and naturalist who made significant contributions to the study of flora in his native country.
In the 19th century, Nilson Palmqvist (1832-1901) was a Swedish author and journalist who wrote extensively on social and political issues of his time.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Nilson, a name with a rich heritage rooted in the languages and cultures of Scandinavia.
People
Nilson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nilson 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
Nilson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nilson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 339 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nilson 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 1,011,075 US residents.
Is Nilson a common name?
We classify Nilson as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 344 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nilson most popular?
The single biggest year for Nilson was 2007, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nilson is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nilson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,132 people with the name Nilson, or 0.37 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,369 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 Nilson 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 Nilson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nilson appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,128 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Nilson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nilson is Hispanic at 74.6%. The next largest groups are White (16.2%) and Black (4.9%). 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 Nilson most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nilson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.6% (844 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 Nilson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nilson a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nilson 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 Nilson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nilson 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 Nilson 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 common is the name Nilson?
See how many Americans are named Nilson on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.