Neil

Primarily a boy's name · 100% boys

Meaning

Neil is a masculine name of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".

From Wikipedia

Neil first appears in the data in 1991 and has been recorded in 34 different years as a boy's name. Its single biggest year was 1991 with 209 babies (rank #172 that year). In 2024 it was given to 78 boys (rank #416). Its popularity has been fairly steady recently.

Numerology of Neil

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Neil yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

22Destiny numberThe master builderTurns visions into structures — a heightened 4.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
5Soul urgeThe free spiritCurious, restless, energised by change.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
8PersonalityThe achieverDriven, capable, comfortable wielding influence.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

2,813

Total babies (all years)

Years in the data

209

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Boys

Also a character in

In The Office (UK): Neil Godwin — Swindon manager, David's rival

Famous people named Neil

Neil Armstrongmilitary flight engineer · b. 1930
Neil Gaimantelevision writer · b. 1960
Neil deGrasse Tysonscience communicator · b. 1958
Neil Youngautobiographer · b. 1945
Neil Patrick Harrisautobiographer · b. 1973

More popular boys' names

Names ranked near Neil in 2024

Other boys' names starting with N

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1991	209	#172
1992	174	#192
1993	153	#199
1994	124	#220
1995	139	#223
1996	102	#267
1997	107	#258
1998	90	#285
1999	72	#333
2000	73	#325
2001	61	#372
2002	67	#341
2003	60	#387
2004	50	#460
2005	54	#436
2006	55	#459
2007	71	#405
2008	52	#519
2009	51	#536
2010	58	#481
2011	58	#473
2012	76	#390
2013	60	#478
2014	69	#439
2015	57	#504
2016	83	#376
2017	81	#384
2018	73	#414
2019	74	#407
2020	65	#448
2021	75	#403
2022	71	#415
2023	64	#458
2024	78	#416