Niels

maleStatistical record

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

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

Niels: Recorded since 1945, it reached #201 in 1959, and it stood at #471 in 2025.

2registrars recorded it
73times a registrar ranked it
81years from first to last
#201highest recorded position
13groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among boys in England and Wales · 1998–2016

View as table

England and Wales · Boys rank by year
Year	Rank
1998	#1642
2000	#3036
2002	#2636
2004	#3009
2005	#2418
2007	#4333
2008	#4432
2010	#4678
2016	#4023

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

FallingEngland and Wales · Boys

Recorded in official data among boys in Norway in 64 of the 81 years from 1945 to 2025.

In 2016: #396 among boys in Norway, #4023 among boys in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1945–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1945
First recorded at #233 among boys in Norway in 1945 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Norway · Boys
Highest recorded1945–2025
Highest recorded position: #201 among boys in Norway, in 1959 (recorded 1945–2025).
Norway · Boys
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #471 among boys in Norway, in 2025.
Norway · Boys

Niels appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Norway · Boys, which has ranked it in 64 years beginning in 1945, and has registered 616 births with the name.

Niels 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.

Niels'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
Norway · Boys	#233 (1945)	#201 (1959)	#471 (2025)	64 of 81	616 (1945–2025)	20 (1959)
England and Wales · Boys	#1642 (1998)	#1642 (1998)	#4023 (2016)	9 of 19	37 (1998–2016)	7 (1998)

Niels by decade in Norway · Boys

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 Niels in Norway · Boys, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1940s	61	5 of 10	12
1950s	129	10 of 10	13
1960sbusiest	139	10 of 10	14
1970s	92	9 of 10	10
1980s	64	9 of 10	7
1990s	45	7 of 10	6
2000s	17	3 of 10	6
2010s	45	7 of 10	6
2020s	24	4 of 10	6

Across Norway · Boys, the 1960s were its busiest decade, averaging 14 births a year.

See the names Norwayhas recorded the most births with →

Niels 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 1945 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #201 in Norway in 1959.

Niels'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
2016	England and Wales	male	#4023	4	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	male	#4678	3	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	male	#4432	3	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	male	#4333	3	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	male	#2418	6	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	male	#3009	4	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	male	#2636	4	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	male	#3036	3	High	Verified
1998	England and Wales	male	#1642	7	High	Verified
2025	Norway	male	#471	5	High	Verified
2024	Norway	male	#430	6	High	Verified
2022	Norway	male	#391	7	High	Verified
2021	Norway	male	#406	6	High	Verified
2019	Norway	male	#339	11	High	Verified
2018	Norway	male	#482	5	High	Verified
2017	Norway	male	#511	4	High	Verified
2016	Norway	male	#396	9	High	Verified
2012	Norway	male	#517	5	High	Verified
2011	Norway	male	#442	7	High	Verified
2010	Norway	male	#558	4	High	Verified
2004	Norway	male	#381	8	High	Verified
2001	Norway	male	#513	5	High	Verified
2000	Norway	male	#565	4	High	Verified
1999	Norway	male	#483	6	High	Verified
1998	Norway	male	#410	8	High	Verified
1997	Norway	male	#586	4	High	Verified
1993	Norway	male	#559	5	High	Verified
1992	Norway	male	#472	7	High	Verified
1991	Norway	male	#630	4	High	Verified
1990	Norway	male	#403	11	High	Verified
1989	Norway	male	#506	7	High	Verified
1988	Norway	male	#521	7	High	Verified
1986	Norway	male	#475	8	High	Verified
1985	Norway	male	#557	6	High	Verified
1984	Norway	male	#595	5	High	Verified
1983	Norway	male	#598	5	High	Verified
1982	Norway	male	#446	9	High	Verified
1981	Norway	male	#474	8	High	Verified
1980	Norway	male	#437	9	High	Verified
1979	Norway	male	#471	8	High	Verified
1978	Norway	male	#491	7	High	Verified
1976	Norway	male	#518	6	High	Verified
1975	Norway	male	#354	12	High	Verified
1974	Norway	male	#357	12	High	Verified
1973	Norway	male	#605	4	High	Verified
1972	Norway	male	#290	16	High	Verified
1971	Norway	male	#297	15	High	Verified
1970	Norway	male	#336	12	High	Verified
1969	Norway	male	#315	13	High	Verified
1968	Norway	male	#510	5	High	Verified
1967	Norway	male	#398	8	High	Verified
1966	Norway	male	#270	15	High	Verified
1965	Norway	male	#245	18	High	Verified
1964	Norway	male	#271	14	High	Verified
1963	Norway	male	#232	19	High	Verified
1962	Norway	male	#273	13	High	Verified
1961	Norway	male	#218	18	High	Verified
1960	Norway	male	#235	16	High	Verified
1959	Norway	male	#201	20	High	Verified
1958	Norway	male	#255	13	High	Verified
1957	Norway	male	#248	13	High	Verified
1956	Norway	male	#271	11	High	Verified
1955	Norway	male	#289	9	High	Verified
1954	Norway	male	#244	12	High	Verified
1953	Norway	male	#240	13	High	Verified
1952	Norway	male	#232	13	High	Verified
1951	Norway	male	#283	9	High	Verified
1950	Norway	male	#217	16	High	Verified
1949	Norway	male	#250	11	High	Verified
1948	Norway	male	#267	10	High	Verified
1947	Norway	male	#223	14	High	Verified
1946	Norway	male	#238	13	High	Verified
1945	Norway	male	#233	13	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Norway hub — collected by Statistics Norway (SSB)

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

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1945 and 2025, ranked in 68 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #201, first reached in 1959.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 20 births, registered in Norway in 1959.

Its record falls into 10 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 3 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1998, and 53 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.

Nida · #962, 29y
Nidhi · #1617, 28y
Nieve · #351, 29y
Nigel · #27, 69y

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.

Eldar · #188, 69y
Annelise · #187, 63y
Asta · #217, 65y
Anneli · #225, 64y

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1940 and 1949.

Solvor · #201, 39y
Aashild · #202, 20y
Alvhild · #202, 15y
Anni · #200, 56y

Niels was ranked #201 in Norway · Boys in 1959. 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.

Niels 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 Niels without appearing here.

Niels moved ahead of

Brent Compare
In 2015 they stood at #4678 and #2941 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2016 that had become #4023 and #4810.
Stig Compare
In 2015 they stood at #517 and #458 in Norway · Boys; by 2016 that had become #396 and #538.
Harry Compare
In 2018 they stood at #511 and #478 in Norway · Boys; by 2019 that had become #339 and #431.
Geir Compare
In 2018 they stood at #511 and #501 in Norway · Boys; by 2019 that had become #339 and #428.

Moved ahead of Niels

Ole Compare
In 2006 they stood at #2418 and #2754 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #4333 and #1756.
Ronny Compare
In 2003 they stood at #1642 and #2074 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2004 that had become #3009 and #906.
Filip Compare
In 1999 they stood at #1642 and #2901 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2000 that had become #3036 and #1096.
Gustav Compare
In 2006 they stood at #2418 and #3849 in England and Wales · Boys; by 2007 that had become #4333 and #2435.

Moved the opposite way to Niels

Aksel Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Niels went from #233 to #471 while Aksel went from #174 to #25.
Alfred Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Niels went from #233 to #471 while Alfred went from #127 to #26.
Arthur Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Niels went from #233 to #471 while Arthur went from #153 to #83.
Daniel Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Niels went from #233 to #471 while Daniel went from #280 to #66.

Moved the same way as Niels

Anders Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Niels went from #233 to #471 and Anders from #55 to #293.
Arild Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Niels went from #233 to #471 and Arild from #32 to #489.
Arne Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Niels went from #233 to #471 and Arne from #6 to #222.
Bjørn Compare
Between 1945 and 2025 in Norway · Boys, Niels went from #233 to #471 and Bjørn from #3 to #56.

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 1945 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #201 in Norway in 1959. Source data last verified 2026-07-25.

Niels

Niels at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Niels across 2 official records

Niels by decade in Norway · Boys

Niels appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Names published alongside Niels

Niels and the names beside it

Niels moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Niels

Moved the opposite way to Niels

Moved the same way as Niels

Niels at a glance

Niels across 2 official records

Niels by decade in Norway · Boys

Niels appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Names published alongside Niels

Niels and the names beside it

Niels moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Niels

Moved the opposite way to Niels

Moved the same way as Niels