Meaning not yet researched.
Neal: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 82 in 2025. Its best rank was #198 in 1952.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #198 in 1952; #1,914 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Neal in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#1,914 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1952, at #198.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Neal: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 82 boys in 2025. Peak: #198 in 1952 · most boys in one year: 1,222 (1959).
In 2025, 82 US boys were named Neal, making it the 1,914th most common boys’ name of the year, up 92 places from #2,006 in 2024. That is 5 more than the 77 boys named Neal in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #198, reached in 1952. The most boys given the name in a single year was 1,222, in 1959. For comparison, it was #1,213 in 2015 and #217 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Neal in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 43 babies with the name. In all, 55,305 US babies have been given the name, 0.5% of them girls and 99.5% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1950s, with 10,756 babies named Neal.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 1,082 US boys were named Neal; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 152. In 2025 that was about 1 in 20,830 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Neal ranked highest in New York in 2025, at #1,185 for boys there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Neil (105,254 babies since 1880), Neel (3,392 babies since 1880), Niall (2,094 babies since 1880) and Nael (1,519 babies since 1880).
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Neal in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US boys. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five boys got the name, so 49 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 10 | #1,185 | #1,311 |
| Texas | 8 | #2,028 | #1,275 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 82 | #1,914 |
| 2024 | — | — | 77 | #2,006 |
| 2023 | — | — | 95 | #1,741 |
| 2022 | — | — | 110 | #1,604 |
| 2021 | — | — | 110 | #1,582 |
| 2020 | — | — | 104 | #1,572 |
| 2019 | — | — | 118 | #1,470 |
| 2018 | — | — | 102 | #1,615 |
| 2017 | — | — | 132 | #1,356 |
| 2016 | — | — | 152 | #1,231 |
| 2015 | — | — | 152 | #1,213 |
| 2014 | — | — | 120 | #1,410 |
| 2013 | — | — | 99 | #1,575 |
| 2012 | — | — | 105 | #1,530 |
| 2011 | — | — | 97 | #1,595 |
| 2010 | — | — | 114 | #1,453 |
| 2009 | — | — | 113 | #1,481 |
| 2008 | — | — | 112 | #1,475 |
| 2007 | — | — | 116 | #1,409 |
| 2006 | — | — | 139 | #1,213 |
| 2005 | — | — | 131 | #1,214 |
| 2004 | — | — | 112 | #1,323 |
| 2003 | — | — | 129 | #1,166 |
| 2002 | — | — | 169 | #952 |
| 2001 | — | — | 172 | #911 |
| 2000 | — | — | 178 | #888 |
| 1999 | — | — | 186 | #825 |
| 1998 | — | — | 210 | #762 |
| 1997 | — | — | 246 | #665 |
| 1996 | — | — | 262 | #641 |
| 1995 | — | — | 258 | #650 |
| 1994 | — | — | 294 | #612 |
| 1993 | — | — | 384 | #520 |
| 1992 | — | — | 396 | #508 |
| 1991 | — | — | 444 | #470 |
| 1990 | — | — | 463 | #460 |
| 1989 | — | — | 522 | #409 |
| 1988 | — | — | 460 | #423 |
| 1987 | — | — | 456 | #408 |
| 1986 | 5 | #12,203 | 543 | #348 |
| 1985 | — | — | 562 | #340 |
| 1984 | — | — | 566 | #332 |
| 1983 | 5 | #11,426 | 573 | #329 |
| 1982 | — | — | 556 | #338 |
| 1981 | — | — | 596 | #320 |
| 1980 | — | — | 592 | #323 |
| 1979 | 6 | #9,794 | 637 | #306 |
| 1978 | — | — | 583 | #307 |
| 1977 | — | — | 622 | #309 |
| 1976 | 5 | #10,354 | 550 | #323 |
| 1975 | — | — | 648 | #293 |
| 1974 | 7 | #7,424 | 582 | #314 |
| 1973 | — | — | 537 | #323 |
| 1972 | — | — | 534 | #333 |
| 1971 | — | — | 600 | #315 |
| 1970 | — | — | 718 | #289 |
| 1969 | — | — | 703 | #281 |
| 1968 | — | — | 651 | #290 |
| 1967 | 6 | #6,558 | 741 | #268 |
| 1966 | — | — | 815 | #254 |
| 1965 | 7 | #5,646 | 884 | #250 |
| 1964 | — | — | 1,128 | #223 |
| 1963 | 5 | #7,320 | 1,094 | #227 |
| 1962 | — | — | 1,031 | #241 |
| 1961 | — | — | 1,122 | #237 |
| 1960 | — | — | 1,192 | #233 |
| 1959 | — | — | 1,222 | #223 |
| 1958 | — | — | 1,157 | #227 |
| 1957 | — | — | 1,192 | #218 |
| 1956 | — | — | 1,102 | #220 |
| 1955 | 9 | #4,289 | 1,060 | #220 |
| 1954 | — | — | 1,088 | #212 |
| 1953 | — | — | 967 | #216 |
| 1952 | — | — | 1,143 | #198 |
| 1951 | 7 | #4,695 | 956 | #208 |
| 1950 | 5 | #5,875 | 848 | #217 |
| 1949 | — | — | 740 | #239 |
| 1948 | 5 | #5,794 | 713 | #242 |
| 1947 | 5 | #5,881 | 730 | #243 |
| 1946 | — | — | 676 | #232 |
| 1945 | 7 | #3,918 | 578 | #233 |
| 1944 | — | — | 568 | #236 |
| 1943 | — | — | 535 | #263 |
| 1942 | — | — | 569 | #237 |
| 1941 | — | — | 543 | #233 |
| 1940 | — | — | 506 | #239 |
| 1939 | — | — | 444 | #256 |
| 1938 | — | — | 446 | #258 |
| 1937 | 5 | #4,743 | 430 | #261 |
| 1936 | 7 | #3,622 | 419 | #265 |
| 1935 | 5 | #4,708 | 415 | #265 |
| 1934 | — | — | 440 | #257 |
| 1933 | 5 | #4,684 | 362 | #277 |
| 1932 | 8 | #3,491 | 374 | #283 |
| 1931 | 6 | #4,205 | 372 | #286 |
| 1930 | — | — | 381 | #292 |
| 1929 | 9 | #3,315 | 342 | #301 |
| 1928 | 7 | #4,064 | 377 | #291 |
| 1927 | 7 | #4,164 | 384 | #291 |
| 1926 | 6 | #4,681 | 417 | #279 |
| 1925 | 11 | #3,071 | 420 | #282 |
| 1924 | 6 | #4,879 | 405 | #284 |
| 1923 | — | — | 410 | #279 |
| 1922 | 5 | #5,570 | 388 | #282 |
| 1921 | 9 | #3,590 | 344 | #314 |
| 1920 | 6 | #4,806 | 371 | #293 |
| 1919 | 5 | #5,351 | 294 | #329 |
| 1918 | 6 | #4,664 | 287 | #337 |
| 1917 | 10 | #3,017 | 277 | #327 |
| 1916 | 7 | #3,815 | 283 | #308 |
| 1915 | 5 | #4,771 | 228 | #355 |
| 1914 | 5 | #4,035 | 176 | #352 |
| 1913 | — | — | 143 | #346 |
| 1912 | 12 | #1,696 | 127 | #337 |
| 1911 | — | — | 63 | #347 |
| 1910 | 5 | #2,682 | 65 | #307 |
| 1909 | — | — | 48 | #338 |
| 1908 | 6 | #2,036 | 46 | #334 |
| 1907 | — | — | 48 | #308 |
| 1906 | 5 | #2,148 | 43 | #319 |
| 1905 | — | — | 45 | #302 |
| 1904 | — | — | 44 | #291 |
| 1903 | — | — | 49 | #264 |
| 1902 | — | — | 46 | #279 |
| 1901 | 5 | #1,873 | 29 | #343 |
| 1900 | — | — | 58 | #270 |
| 1899 | — | — | 33 | #310 |
| 1898 | — | — | 40 | #295 |
| 1897 | — | — | 43 | #277 |
| 1896 | — | — | 35 | #321 |
| 1895 | — | — | 38 | #292 |
| 1894 | — | — | 41 | #277 |
| 1893 | — | — | 33 | #305 |
| 1892 | — | — | 35 | #315 |
| 1891 | — | — | 35 | #275 |
| 1890 | — | — | 40 | #273 |
| 1889 | — | — | 38 | #273 |
| 1888 | — | — | 37 | #294 |
| 1887 | — | — | 37 | #269 |
| 1886 | — | — | 40 | #270 |
| 1885 | — | — | 33 | #294 |
| 1884 | — | — | 36 | #294 |
| 1883 | — | — | 29 | #308 |
| 1882 | — | — | 35 | #292 |
| 1881 | — | — | 33 | #275 |
| 1880 | — | — | 43 | #257 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).