2000
#5,114
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,297
First available Census row
Per 100,000 2.33
Rare Last name
Neilson
Son of Neil, an anglicized form of the Gaelic name Niall, meaning "champion" or "cloud."
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 7,239 Americans carry the last name Neilson. That puts it at #5,327 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 2.11 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 47,348 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Neilson surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Neilson with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
7.2K
1 in 47,348
Census rank
#5,327
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
2.1
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
6.3K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 6,313 bearers of the surname Neilson in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 2.11 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 5327th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Neilson, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Neilson
The surname Neilson has its origins in Scotland, dating back to the 13th century. It is a patronymic name derived from the personal name Neil, which is a Scottish form of the Gaelic name Niall, meaning "champion" or "cloud." The suffix "-son" indicates "son of."
The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland from the late 13th century, where individuals with the name Neilson are mentioned. These rolls were records of financial transactions and taxes paid to the Scottish Crown.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name was John Neilson, a Scottish landowner and nobleman who lived in the late 14th century. He was recorded as owning lands in the county of Ayrshire, which suggests that the name may have originated in that region.
In the 16th century, the name Neilson appears in the records of the Scottish Parliament, where several individuals with this surname are mentioned as representatives from various shires and burghs.
A notable bearer of the name was Samuel Neilson (1761-1803), an Irish Presbyterian minister and political activist who was a leading figure in the Society of United Irishmen, a revolutionary republican movement in the late 18th century.
Another prominent individual was John Neilson (1776-1848), a Canadian newspaper publisher and journalist who founded the Quebec Gazette, one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in North America.
In the 19th century, James Beaumont Neilson (1792-1865) was a Scottish engineer and inventor who developed the hot blast process for smelting iron, which significantly increased the efficiency of blast furnaces and revolutionized the iron industry.
Further instances of the name can be found in various historical records and documents, such as court records, parish registers, and census records, across Scotland and other parts of the United Kingdom, as well as in areas where Scottish immigrants settled, such as North America and Australia.
The surname Neilson has also been subject to various spelling variations over time, including Neilson, Nielson, Nelson, and Nilson, among others, reflecting regional differences in pronunciation and spelling conventions.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Neilson
Among Census respondents with the surname Neilson, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.4%).
The bar chart below shows how Neilson bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Neilson surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.8% · 5,670
- Two or more races3.6% · 226
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 212
- Black or African American2.1% · 133
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 57
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 15
Timeline
Historical Census data for Neilson
Neilson appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#5,319
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,553
+256 bearers (+4.1%)
Per 100,000 2.22
Rank movement Down 205 places
2020
#5,327
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 6,313
-240 bearers (-3.7%)
Per 100,000 2.11
Rank movement Down 8 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #5,114 | 6,297 | 2.33 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #5,319 | 6,553 | 2.22 | +256 bearers (+4.1%) | Down 205 places |
| 2020 | #5,327 | 6,313 | 2.11 | -240 bearers (-3.7%) | Down 8 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Neilson surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #5,319 | #5,327 | -0.2% |
| Count | 6,553 | 6,313 | -3.7% |
| Per 100K | 2.22 | 2.11 | -4.9% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Neilson bearers went from 6,553 to 6,313 (-3.7% change). The surname moved down 8 positions in the national ranking, going from #5,319 to #5,327.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Neilson
FAQ
Neilson surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Neilson?
Name Census estimates that about 7,239 living Americans carry the surname Neilson. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 47,348 residents.
How common is Neilson?
Neilson ranks #5,327 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 2.11 per 100,000 residents, which is about 2 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 6,313 people with the surname Neilson. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (7,239), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 2.11 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 2.11 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 2 of them to have the surname Neilson.
Has Neilson become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Neilson went from 6,553 recorded bearers to 6,313. That is a decrease of 240 (-3.7%). In the national ranking it fell from #5,319 to #5,327.
What does the Census say about the background of Neilson?
Among Census respondents with the surname Neilson, the largest self-reported group is White at 89.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and Hispanic (3.4%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Neilson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (5,670 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Neilson appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (89.8%), Two or More Races (3.6%), Hispanic (3.4%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Neilson (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Neilson mean?
Son of Neil, an anglicized form of the Gaelic name Niall, meaning "champion" or "cloud." The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Neilson (2.11 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many Americans have the surname Neilson?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.