Meaning not yet researched.
Nels: US boys given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 22 in 2025. Its best rank was #309 in 1884.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #309 in 1884; #4,656 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Nels in 2025 was a boy.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#4,656 for US boys in 2025. Its best year was 1884, at #309.
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.
Nels: US boys given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 22 boys in 2025. Peak: #309 in 1884 · most boys in one year: 65 (1918).
In 2025, 22 US boys were named Nels, making it the 4,656th most common boys’ name of the year, up 724 places from #5,380 in 2024. That is 4 more than the 18 boys named Nels in 2024. Its best rank for boys was #309, reached in 1884. The most boys given the name in a single year was 65, in 1918. For comparison, it was #6,212 in 2015 and #1,058 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Nels in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 12 babies with the name. In all, 3,841 US babies have been given the name, all of them boys. Its busiest decade was the 1950s, with 454 babies named Nels.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 172 US boys were named Nels; the busiest of those years was 2021, with 23. In 2025 that was about 1 in 77,640 of the boys in SSA’s list for the year.
Rarer spellings such as Neils and Nelse are summarised on this page.
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.
No related spellings pass our data threshold.
Rare spellings summarised here: Neils (78), Nelse (28).
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 Nels in the open dataset we use.
Nels is listed as a nickname for Nelson.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | — | — | 22 | #4,656 |
| 2024 | — | — | 18 | #5,380 |
| 2023 | — | — | 19 | #5,193 |
| 2022 | — | — | 19 | #5,163 |
| 2021 | — | — | 23 | #4,454 |
| 2020 | — | — | 16 | #5,625 |
| 2019 | — | — | 13 | #6,674 |
| 2018 | — | — | 11 | #7,470 |
| 2017 | — | — | 16 | #5,709 |
| 2016 | — | — | 15 | #5,974 |
| 2015 | — | — | 14 | #6,212 |
| 2014 | — | — | 21 | #4,653 |
| 2013 | — | — | 7 | #10,407 |
| 2012 | — | — | 11 | #7,394 |
| 2011 | — | — | 12 | #6,878 |
| 2010 | — | — | 17 | #5,407 |
| 2009 | — | — | 16 | #5,735 |
| 2008 | — | — | 10 | #8,111 |
| 2007 | — | — | 12 | #6,958 |
| 2006 | — | — | 7 | #10,337 |
| 2005 | — | — | 15 | #5,494 |
| 2004 | — | — | 12 | #6,403 |
| 2003 | — | — | 9 | #7,659 |
| 2002 | — | — | 10 | #6,903 |
| 2001 | — | — | 14 | #5,319 |
| 2000 | — | — | 14 | #5,242 |
| 1999 | — | — | 8 | #7,657 |
| 1998 | — | — | 13 | #5,097 |
| 1997 | — | — | 14 | #4,612 |
| 1996 | — | — | 19 | #3,636 |
| 1995 | — | — | 11 | #5,405 |
| 1994 | — | — | 12 | #5,028 |
| 1993 | — | — | 18 | #3,599 |
| 1992 | — | — | 17 | #3,701 |
| 1991 | — | — | 17 | #3,576 |
| 1990 | — | — | 23 | #2,841 |
| 1989 | — | — | 25 | #2,589 |
| 1988 | — | — | 15 | #3,474 |
| 1987 | — | — | 22 | #2,532 |
| 1986 | — | — | 22 | #2,481 |
| 1985 | — | — | 18 | #2,793 |
| 1984 | — | — | 27 | #2,020 |
| 1983 | — | — | 20 | #2,472 |
| 1982 | — | — | 41 | #1,532 |
| 1981 | — | — | 31 | #1,847 |
| 1980 | — | — | 43 | #1,464 |
| 1979 | — | — | 28 | #1,928 |
| 1978 | — | — | 22 | #2,179 |
| 1977 | — | — | 27 | #1,888 |
| 1976 | — | — | 37 | #1,489 |
| 1975 | — | — | 21 | #2,182 |
| 1974 | — | — | 29 | #1,681 |
| 1973 | — | — | 32 | #1,535 |
| 1972 | — | — | 23 | #1,910 |
| 1971 | — | — | 28 | #1,698 |
| 1970 | — | — | 29 | #1,601 |
| 1969 | — | — | 33 | #1,408 |
| 1968 | — | — | 24 | #1,632 |
| 1967 | — | — | 33 | #1,333 |
| 1966 | — | — | 41 | #1,174 |
| 1965 | — | — | 32 | #1,373 |
| 1964 | — | — | 27 | #1,531 |
| 1963 | — | — | 38 | #1,270 |
| 1962 | — | — | 31 | #1,416 |
| 1961 | — | — | 46 | #1,167 |
| 1960 | — | — | 38 | #1,288 |
| 1959 | — | — | 43 | #1,190 |
| 1958 | — | — | 42 | #1,200 |
| 1957 | — | — | 43 | #1,195 |
| 1956 | — | — | 51 | #1,065 |
| 1955 | — | — | 55 | #1,021 |
| 1954 | — | — | 36 | #1,260 |
| 1953 | — | — | 48 | #1,052 |
| 1952 | — | — | 46 | #1,076 |
| 1951 | — | — | 45 | #1,078 |
| 1950 | — | — | 45 | #1,058 |
| 1949 | — | — | 41 | #1,107 |
| 1948 | — | — | 36 | #1,211 |
| 1947 | — | — | 36 | #1,226 |
| 1946 | — | — | 46 | #1,010 |
| 1945 | — | — | 26 | #1,320 |
| 1944 | — | — | 35 | #1,130 |
| 1943 | — | — | 36 | #1,151 |
| 1942 | — | — | 35 | #1,186 |
| 1941 | — | — | 23 | #1,436 |
| 1940 | — | — | 35 | #1,123 |
| 1939 | — | — | 31 | #1,187 |
| 1938 | — | — | 28 | #1,269 |
| 1937 | — | — | 38 | #1,051 |
| 1936 | — | — | 30 | #1,218 |
| 1935 | — | — | 26 | #1,345 |
| 1934 | — | — | 32 | #1,185 |
| 1933 | — | — | 40 | #1,026 |
| 1932 | — | — | 24 | #1,454 |
| 1931 | — | — | 42 | #1,045 |
| 1930 | — | — | 26 | #1,451 |
| 1929 | — | — | 26 | #1,437 |
| 1928 | — | — | 32 | #1,288 |
| 1927 | — | — | 52 | #973 |
| 1926 | — | — | 39 | #1,154 |
| 1925 | — | — | 47 | #1,006 |
| 1924 | — | — | 37 | #1,200 |
| 1923 | — | — | 38 | #1,170 |
| 1922 | — | — | 38 | #1,174 |
| 1921 | — | — | 45 | #1,056 |
| 1920 | — | — | 44 | #1,061 |
| 1919 | — | — | 34 | #1,223 |
| 1918 | — | — | 65 | #813 |
| 1917 | — | — | 46 | #952 |
| 1916 | — | — | 58 | #818 |
| 1915 | — | — | 56 | #821 |
| 1914 | — | — | 45 | #791 |
| 1913 | — | — | 39 | #753 |
| 1912 | — | — | 30 | #814 |
| 1911 | — | — | 18 | #784 |
| 1910 | — | — | 11 | #1,024 |
| 1909 | — | — | 11 | #938 |
| 1908 | — | — | 13 | #769 |
| 1907 | — | — | 16 | #655 |
| 1906 | — | — | 11 | #790 |
| 1905 | — | — | 14 | #657 |
| 1904 | — | — | 7 | #1,034 |
| 1903 | — | — | 9 | #826 |
| 1902 | — | — | 14 | #607 |
| 1901 | — | — | 8 | #832 |
| 1900 | — | — | 8 | #1,021 |
| 1899 | — | — | 14 | #541 |
| 1898 | — | — | 19 | #481 |
| 1897 | — | — | 14 | #576 |
| 1896 | — | — | 21 | #434 |
| 1895 | — | — | 20 | #449 |
| 1894 | — | — | 20 | #432 |
| 1893 | — | — | 32 | #310 |
| 1892 | — | — | 19 | #455 |
| 1891 | — | — | 18 | #425 |
| 1890 | — | — | 15 | #503 |
| 1889 | — | — | 17 | #456 |
| 1888 | — | — | 32 | #323 |
| 1887 | — | — | 19 | #385 |
| 1886 | — | — | 15 | #485 |
| 1885 | — | — | 20 | #407 |
| 1884 | — | — | 32 | #309 |
| 1883 | — | — | 19 | #410 |
| 1882 | — | — | 26 | #353 |
| 1881 | — | — | 18 | #407 |
| 1880 | — | — | 12 | #553 |
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).