How Many People Are Named Nigel?
people named Nigel are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 28,928 people in the US has this name
Based on 12,371 babies named Nigel in Social Security records from 1915 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎 Rare
Peak Year
455 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
From Nigellus, a medieval Latinized form of NEIL. It was commonly associated with Latin niger "black". It was revived in the 19th century, perhaps in part due to Sir Walter Scott's novel 'The Fortunes of Nigel' (1822).
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Of the babies given the name Nigel, 0.6% were girls and 99.5% were boys.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Nigel alive today is about 29 years old, and 53% are under 30. Half of them were between 19 and 37 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Nigel first appears in the records in 1915 and was given most often in 1994, to 455 babies. In 2025, 71 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1915 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Nigel has never been one of the 100 most popular boys' names. Its best rank was #478, in 1994. In 2025 it ranked #2,088.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #2,088 |
| Best rank | #478 (1994) |
| Years in the top 100 | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #530 in the 1990s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Nigel alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Nigel were born in New York than in any other state: about 1,458 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Nigel was given 2.6 times as often in South Carolina, 2.5 times in Georgia and 2.5 times in New York.
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