Neil Boy
How popular is Neil?
#850 boy name in 2025
288 baby boys were named Neil in the US in 2025, making it the 850th most popular boy name.
Neil popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #850 for boys (▲ 12 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 288 boys |
| 10-year trend | Falling (-30% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #641 in 2015, #748 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1954 (1,959 boys) |
| Highest rank | #146 in 1953 |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 100% boys, 0% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 0.2% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Neil counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Neil family of names ranked #658 for boys in 2025 (#683 the year before), with 396 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Neil | 288 | 73% |
| Neel | 108 | 27% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Neil is most popular
Babies named Neil per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Washington: 0.6 per 1,000 (93 boys)
- Delaware: 0.4 per 1,000 (6 boys)
- Virginia: 0.3 per 1,000 (64 boys)
- Massachusetts: 0.3 per 1,000 (45 boys)
- Utah: 0.3 per 1,000 (30 boys)
Neil by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 217 | #332 |
| 1890s | 313 | #262 |
| 1900s | 398 | #292 |
| 1910s | 2,424 | #256 |
| 1920s | 5,688 | #195 |
| 1930s | 9,466 | #149 |
| 1940s | 12,427 | #156 |
| 1950s | 17,715 | #146 |
| 1960s | 13,668 | #164 |
| 1970s | 14,040 | #159 |
| 1980s | 11,833 | #181 |
| 1990s | 6,987 | #261 |
| 2000s | 3,814 | #494 |
| 2010s | 3,992 | #618 |
| 2020s | 1,887 | #719 |
Boy names about as popular as Neil
Questions
- Is Neil a boy or girl name?
- Neil is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 100% of babies named Neil were boys.
- How popular is the name Neil?
- 288 baby boys were named Neil in the US in 2025, making it the 850th most popular boy name.
- When was Neil most popular?
- Neil peaked in 1954, when 1,959 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #146 in 1953.
- How many people are named Neil?
- 105,254 babies have been named Neil in the US since 1880. We estimate about 71,733 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 53.
- Where is Neil most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Neil was most common in Washington, at 0.6 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.