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 1880 and has been recorded in 145 different years as a boy's name. Its single biggest year was 1954 with 1,959 babies (rank #147 that year). In 2024 it was given to 278 boys (rank #863). The name has been declining over the last five years.

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.

104,966

Total babies (all years)

145

Years in the data

1,959

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

Share your Neil story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

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
1880	24	#354
1881	6	#840
1882	19	#421
1883	23	#351
1884	23	#371
1885	26	#341
1886	24	#354
1887	21	#365
1888	23	#394
1889	28	#335
1890	29	#324
1891	25	#345
1892	36	#310
1893	28	#338
1894	30	#329
1895	31	#336
1896	47	#264
1897	26	#372
1898	35	#328
1899	26	#358
1900	50	#292
1901	32	#315
1902	28	#377
1903	28	#364
1904	41	#310
1905	42	#313
1906	37	#343
1907	42	#329
1908	55	#295
1909	43	#363
1910	54	#343
1911	58	#366
1912	151	#292
1913	184	#294
1914	232	#296
1915	289	#297
1916	375	#256
1917	356	#270
1918	359	#285
1919	366	#275
1920	489	#247
1921	497	#252
1922	489	#255
1923	508	#248
1924	541	#249
1925	563	#234
1926	600	#225
1927	609	#221
1928	696	#198
1929	696	#196
1930	826	#175
1931	882	#165
1932	934	#162
1933	997	#149
1934	953	#153
1935	858	#167
1936	913	#158
1937	969	#158
1938	1,066	#152
1939	1,068	#152
1940	1,067	#156
1941	1,075	#161
1942	1,101	#160
1943	1,154	#162
1944	1,140	#161
1945	1,210	#157
1946	1,343	#161
1947	1,460	#162
1948	1,406	#165
1949	1,471	#161
1950	1,609	#156
1951	1,755	#149
1952	1,904	#147
1953	1,937	#146
1954	1,959	#147
1955	1,785	#159
1956	1,747	#171
1957	1,676	#181
1958	1,711	#174
1959	1,633	#185
1960	1,446	#199
1961	1,525	#196
1962	1,291	#214
1963	1,446	#205
1964	1,529	#182
1965	1,320	#192
1966	1,227	#198
1967	1,155	#200
1968	1,050	#218
1969	1,680	#164
1970	1,566	#178
1971	1,422	#182
1972	1,305	#185
1973	1,297	#182
1974	1,323	#175
1975	1,331	#174
1976	1,354	#173
1977	1,430	#169
1978	1,527	#159
1979	1,486	#165
1980	1,348	#181
1981	1,330	#188
1982	1,342	#188
1983	1,226	#195
1984	1,125	#205
1985	1,206	#202
1986	1,152	#211
1987	1,078	#222
1988	999	#240
1989	1,027	#252
1990	1,029	#260
1991	918	#283
1992	791	#322
1993	784	#326
1994	704	#349
1995	678	#357
1996	579	#404
1997	526	#430
1998	489	#460
1999	490	#465
2000	462	#495
2001	443	#512
2002	381	#574
2003	384	#575
2004	338	#625
2005	380	#595
2006	398	#605
2007	305	#741
2008	327	#713
2009	396	#632
2010	342	#687
2011	358	#660
2012	391	#621
2013	394	#624
2014	397	#656
2015	414	#641
2016	425	#629
2017	422	#618
2018	425	#628
2019	422	#639
2020	324	#750
2021	360	#719
2022	330	#765
2023	305	#806
2024	278	#863