Find out how popular the last name Nelis is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Nelis.

Nelis, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Nelis surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Nelis in America

Nelis is the 54990th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Nelis surname appeared 374 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Nelis.

We can also compare 2010 data for Nelis to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Nelis

The surname NELIS originated in the Netherlands during the late medieval period. It is derived from the Dutch personal name "Neel" or "Nele", which were diminutive forms of the name Cornelius. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 15th century in the provinces of North Brabant and Limburg.

In the 16th century, the name NELIS appeared in several municipal records and church registers in the city of Maastricht, located in the southern part of the Netherlands near the Belgian border. It is believed that the name may have been introduced to this region by Flemish immigrants who settled there during this time.

One of the earliest known bearers of the NELIS surname was Jan Nelis, a merchant and alderman in the city of 's-Hertogenbosch in the late 15th century. Another notable figure was Pieter Nelis, a Catholic priest and theologian who lived in the 17th century and served as the rector of the University of Louvain in Belgium.

In the 18th century, the NELIS name gained prominence in the Netherlands with the birth of Cornelius Francis Nelis (1737-1798), a Dutch Catholic bishop and writer who served as the Bishop of Antwerp. His scholarly works on theology and philosophy were widely respected throughout Europe.

Another prominent individual with the NELIS surname was Arnold Nelis (1787-1858), a Dutch lawyer and statesman who served as the Minister of Justice in the Netherlands from 1840 to 1848.

Over time, the NELIS surname spread beyond the Netherlands and Belgium to other parts of Europe and the Americas due to emigration and the expansion of trade networks. However, its origins can be traced back to the Low Countries in the late medieval period.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Nelis

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Nelis.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Nelis was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Nelis has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Nelis was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Nelis, please contact us.

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