Nell

femaleStatistical record

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

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

Nell: Recorded since 1964, with a gap of 16 years, its highest recorded position is #114, and it stood at #115 in 2025.

4registrars recorded it
65times a registrar ranked it
62years from first to last
#114highest recorded position
17groupings it qualifies for

What stands out in Nell's record

Absent from every published list for 16 years inside its own recorded period, then ranked again. Names by longest absence

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#3126
1997	#1176
1998	#1259
1999	#1060
2000	#748
2001	#514
2002	#342
2003	#337
2004	#337
2005	#418
2006	#378
2007	#359
2008	#351
2009	#407
2010	#390
2011	#395
2012	#410
2013	#345
2014	#353
2015	#334
2016	#345
2017	#306
2018	#340
2019	#305
2020	#347
2021	#296
2022	#263
2023	#294
2024	#400

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 Republic of Ireland in 27 of the 62 years from 1964 to 2025.

In 2024: #114 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #230 among girls in Scotland, #253 among girls in Northern Ireland, #400 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 4 national registrars across 4 regions, 1964–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1964
First recorded at #257 among girls in Republic of Ireland in 1964 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Highest recorded1964–2025
Highest recorded position: #114 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2024 (recorded 1964–2025).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #115 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2025.
Republic of Ireland · Girls

Nell appears in 3 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, with 29 ranked years and 3,083 births registered; the earliest is Republic of Ireland · Girls, from 1964.

Nell across 3 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.

Nell'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
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#257 (1964)	#114 (2024)	#115 (2025)	27 of 62	451 (1964–2025)	42 (2024)
England and Wales · Girls	#3126 (1996)	#263 (2022)	#400 (2024)	29 of 29	3,083 (1996–2024)	173 (2022)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#384 (2006)	#253 (2024)	#253 (2024)	8 of 19	34 (2006–2024)	6 (2023)

Nell 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 Nell in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	54	4 of 10	14
2000s	968	10 of 10	97
2010s	1,342	10 of 10	134
2020sbusiest	719	5 of 10	144

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 144 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2001 and 2002, when recorded births rose by 47, from 56 to 103.

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

Nell 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 4 regions, from 1964 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #114 in Republic of Ireland in 2024.

Nell'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	#400	108	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#294	149	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#263	173	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#296	160	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#347	129	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#305	156	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#340	141	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#306	159	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#345	139	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#334	140	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#353	131	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#345	131	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#410	113	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#395	117	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#390	115	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#407	104	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#351	128	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#359	121	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#378	111	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#418	89	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#337	114	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#337	111	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#342	103	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#514	56	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#748	31	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#1060	19	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	female	#1259	15	High	Verified
1997	England and Wales	female	#1176	16	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#3126	4	High	Verified
2024	Northern Ireland	female	#253	6	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	female	#264	6	High	Verified
2022	Northern Ireland	female	#305	5	High	Verified
2021	Northern Ireland	female	#446	3	High	Verified
2019	Northern Ireland	female	#424	3	High	Verified
2018	Northern Ireland	female	#361	4	High	Verified
2013	Northern Ireland	female	#370	4	High	Verified
2006	Northern Ireland	female	#384	3	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	female	#115	40	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	female	#114	42	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	female	#130	36	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	female	#128	41	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	female	#130	40	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	female	#178	26	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	female	#232	21	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	female	#218	22	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	female	#189	27	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	female	#247	19	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	female	#378	12	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	female	#494	8	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	female	#254	20	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	female	#474	9	High	Verified
2011	Republic of Ireland	female	#393	12	High	Verified
2010	Republic of Ireland	female	#593	6	High	Verified
2009	Republic of Ireland	female	#641	5	High	Verified
2008	Republic of Ireland	female	#364	13	High	Verified
2007	Republic of Ireland	female	#468	8	High	Verified
2006	Republic of Ireland	female	#394	9	High	Verified
2005	Republic of Ireland	female	#424	7	High	Verified
2003	Republic of Ireland	female	#490	5	High	Verified
2001	Republic of Ireland	female	#400	6	High	Verified
2000	Republic of Ireland	female	#465	4	High	Verified
1979	Republic of Ireland	female	#523	3	High	Verified
1976	Republic of Ireland	female	#497	3	High	Verified
1964	Republic of Ireland	female	#257	7	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	female	#230	16	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

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

What the record shows

Recorded by 4 registrars between 1964 and 2025, ranked in 33 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #114, first reached in 2024.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 173 births, registered in England and Wales in 2022.

Its record falls into 4 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 16 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1996, and 60 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.

Neli · #2073, 15y
Nelia · #187, 11y
Nella · #424, 20y
Nelle · #1161, 20y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 4 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.

Charley · #115, 31y
Emmie · #115, 30y
India · #113, 31y
Neve · #115, 29y

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1960 and 1969.

Aleksandra · #113, 63y
Colum · #115, 49y
Eanna · #115, 57y
Fiachra · #115, 58y

Nell was ranked #114 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 2024. 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.

Nell 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 Nell without appearing here.

Nell moved ahead of

Amalie Compare
In 1996 they stood at #3126 and #2096 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1997 that had become #1176 and #3824.
Jeanette Compare
In 1996 they stood at #3126 and #1914 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1997 that had become #1176 and #3824.
Dylan Compare
In 1997 they stood at #3126 and #2350 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1998 that had become #1259 and #3848.
Evan Compare
In 1996 they stood at #3126 and #2096 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1997 that had become #1176 and #3174.

Moved ahead of Nell

Elsie Compare
In 2008 they stood at #364 and #403 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2009 that had become #641 and #331.
Ivy Compare
In 2013 they stood at #254 and #304 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2014 that had become #494 and #219.
Ada Compare
In 2017 they stood at #370 and #440 in Northern Ireland · Girls; by 2018 that had become #361 and #92.
Kate Compare
In 1975 they stood at #257 and #300 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 1976 that had become #497 and #271.

Moved the opposite way to Nell

Audrey Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Nell went from #257 to #115 while Audrey went from #85 to #885.
Eileen Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Nell went from #257 to #115 while Eileen went from #17 to #443.
Ida Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Nell went from #257 to #115 while Ida went from #372 to #885.
Julia Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Nell went from #257 to #115 while Julia went from #42 to #118.

Moved the same way as Nell

Annie Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Nell went from #257 to #115 and Annie from #112 to #33.
Charlotte Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Nell went from #257 to #115 and Charlotte from #171 to #43.
Clodagh Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Nell went from #257 to #115 and Clodagh from #149 to #47.
Emily Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Nell went from #257 to #115 and Emily from #180 to #6.

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 4 regions, from 1964 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #114 in Republic of Ireland in 2024. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Nell

Nell at a glance

What stands out in Nell's record

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Nell across 3 official records

Nell by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Nell appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Nell

Nell and the names beside it

Nell moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Nell

Moved the opposite way to Nell

Moved the same way as Nell

Nell at a glance

What stands out in Nell's record

Nell across 3 official records

Nell by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Nell appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Names published alongside Nell

Nell and the names beside it

Nell moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Nell

Moved the opposite way to Nell

Moved the same way as Nell