How Many People Are Named Nels?
people named Nels are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 189,249 people in the US has this name
Based on 3,841 babies named Nels in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎💎 Very Rare
Peak Year
65 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Danish variant of NILS.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
All of the babies given the name Nels in the records were boys.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Nels alive today is about 48 years old, and 39% are between 30 and 59. Half of them were between 32 and 67 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Nels first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1918, to 65 babies. In 2025, 22 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Nels has never been one of the 100 most popular boys' names. Its best rank was #309, in 1884. In 2025 it ranked #4,655.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #4,655 |
| Best rank | #309 (1884) |
| Years in the top 100 | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #1,111 in the 1950s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Nels alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Nels were born in California than in any other state: about 106 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Nels was given 15.3 times as often in Minnesota, 6 times in Washington and 5.1 times in Wisconsin.
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