Nel

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Nel: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Nel: Recorded since 1999, it reached #515 in 2016, and it stood at #608 in 2025.

2registrars recorded it
37times a registrar ranked it
27years from first to last
#515highest recorded position
9groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1999–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1999	#3900
2000	#3912
2002	#1658
2003	#2436
2004	#1535
2005	#1500
2006	#1585
2007	#1573
2008	#1135
2009	#1287
2010	#988
2011	#1117
2012	#1018
2013	#1177
2014	#842
2015	#891
2016	#881
2017	#797
2018	#902
2019	#864
2020	#916
2021	#828
2022	#839
2023	#1087
2024	#795

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in England and Wales in 25 of the 26 years from 1999 to 2024.

In 2022: #747 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #839 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1999–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1999
First recorded at #3900 among girls in England and Wales in 1999 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Highest recorded2007–2025
Highest recorded position: #515 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2016 (recorded 2007–2025).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #608 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Girls

Nel appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, which has ranked it in 25 years beginning in 1999, and has registered 723 births with the name.

Nel across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Nel's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Girls	#3900 (1999)	#795 (2024)	#795 (2024)	25 of 26	723 (1999–2024)	49 (2017)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#842 (2007)	#515 (2016)	#608 (2025)	12 of 19	58 (2007–2025)	7 (2016)

Nel by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Nel in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	3	1 of 10	3
2000s	130	9 of 10	14
2010s	388	10 of 10	39
2020sbusiest	202	5 of 10	40

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 40 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Nel appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1999 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #515 in Republic of Ireland in 2016.

Nel's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#795	47	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#1087	31	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#839	42	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#828	43	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#916	39	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#864	42	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#902	41	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#797	49	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#881	42	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#891	41	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#842	45	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#1177	29	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#1018	35	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#1117	30	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#988	34	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#1287	23	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#1135	26	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#1573	16	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#1585	15	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#1500	15	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#1535	14	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#2436	7	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#1658	11	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#3912	3	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#3900	3	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	female	#608	5	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	female	#747	4	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	female	#661	5	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	female	#628	5	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	female	#621	5	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	female	#524	7	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	female	#515	7	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	female	#581	6	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	female	#876	3	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	female	#768	4	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	female	#798	4	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	female	#842	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1999 and 2025, ranked in 26 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #515, first reached in 2016.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 49 births, registered in England and Wales in 2017.

Its record falls into 2 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 1 year.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2007, and 8 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Neitas · #415, 12y
Neive · #835, 27y
Nela · #296, 21y
Neli · #2073, 15y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Alesia · #515, 26y
Tasneem · #515, 31y
Janna · #516, 28y
Jordanna · #516, 21y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Alesia · #515, 26y
Cherelle · #515, 17y
Tasneem · #515, 31y
Amee · #516, 14y

Nel was ranked #515 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 2016. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Nel and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Nel without appearing here.

Nel moved ahead of

Debra Compare
In 2001 they stood at #3912 and #3247 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #1658 and #4137.
Evan Compare
In 2001 they stood at #3900 and #2770 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #1658 and #4137.
Gail Compare
In 2001 they stood at #3912 and #3912 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #1658 and #4137.
George Compare
In 2001 they stood at #3900 and #3225 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #1658 and #4137.

Moved ahead of Nel

Fiadh Compare
In 2019 they stood at #864 and #1063 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2020 that had become #916 and #460.
Harper Compare
In 2008 they stood at #1135 and #1391 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2009 that had become #1287 and #1171.

Moved the opposite way to Nel

Abigail Compare
Between 1999 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nel went from #3900 to #795 while Abigail went from #20 to #154.
Aimee Compare
Between 1999 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nel went from #3900 to #795 while Aimee went from #70 to #1603.
Aisling Compare
Between 1999 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nel went from #3900 to #795 while Aisling went from #410 to #2000.
Alex Compare
Between 1999 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nel went from #3900 to #795 while Alex went from #204 to #2253.

Moved the same way as Nel

Ada Compare
Between 1999 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nel went from #3900 to #795 and Ada from #2189 to #40.
Alma Compare
Between 1999 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nel went from #3900 to #795 and Alma from #3225 to #234.
Alyssa Compare
Between 1999 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nel went from #3900 to #795 and Alyssa from #483 to #285.
Amalie Compare
Between 1999 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nel went from #3900 to #795 and Amalie from #2770 to #1128.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1999 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #515 in Republic of Ireland in 2016. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Nel

Nel at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Nel across 2 official records

Nel by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Nel appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Nel

Nel and the names beside it

Nel moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Nel

Moved the opposite way to Nel

Moved the same way as Nel

Nel at a glance

Nel across 2 official records

Nel by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Nel appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Nel

Nel and the names beside it

Nel moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Nel

Moved the opposite way to Nel

Moved the same way as Nel