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Neely

#4,143 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Son of the poet

Neely has been given to 2,630 babies in the U.S. since 1888. In 2025 it ranked #4,143 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1974, with 75 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 85% girls, 15% boys all-time.

Babies named Neely, 2025

1 in 94,700

Neely over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
02040608018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Neely over time

In 2025, Neely went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

18882025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Neely: meaning, origin, and history

Son of the poet

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Neely means

Neely means “son of the poet”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,239 girls were recorded with the name Neely between 1888 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 75 in 1974; its best national rank was #1,377 in 1974.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #5,274 in 2020 to #4,143 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,963 in 2015 to #4,143 in 2025.

In the United States, 391 boys were recorded with the name Neely between 1890 and 1994. Its highest annual count was 17 in 1919; its best national rank was #964 in 1890.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Neely?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 94,700
35 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 45,900
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#4,143
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
65,655 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Neely sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 65,655 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Neely. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Neelys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Neely was born before 2000 — so the typical Neely is around 25 today.

Median birth year
2000
About 25 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
23.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
49.0%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
2,185
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 23.8% of all recorded uses (534).

Is Neely rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+1,110
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,131
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−180
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.92×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
46.7%
Peak was 1974 (75)
Years since peak
51
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,377
1974

Spellings of Neely

Neely is not the most common spelling — Kelly is, with 72.8% against Neely's 0.34%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Neely is used

Across 1910–2025, Neely was most concentrated in Mississippi — about 1 in 25,000 girls, against 1 in 152,059 across all states with data. It was least common in South Carolina (1 in —).

04 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Mississippi1 in 25,000
  2. 2Tennessee1 in 33,333
  3. 3Texas1 in 50,000
  4. 4Alabama1 in 100,000
  5. 5Georgia1 in 100,000
  6. 6California1 in —
  7. 7Florida1 in —
  8. 8Illinois1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Neely has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Neely around the world

Where Neely ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1998–1999
    #3,900
    in 1999
  • Canada
    1998–2011
    #3,211
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics and Statistics Canada. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Neely

People whose public names include Neely, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Neely by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#4,143
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,131
Best rank ever
#1,377
1974
Peak year
1974
75 that year
First recorded
1888
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,239
Count in 2025
35

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#964
1890
Peak year
1919
17 that year
First recorded
1890
Last recorded
1994
All-time count
391
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Neely

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

NeenaNeelaNeemaJoelyKaelyNeevaJanelyLovelyCicelyKarelyNayelyKielyMarelyAngelyYanelyNoelyYarelyNeeraJarelyArelyNohelyAmelyAnelyMaely

Names with a curve like Neely

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Neely, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

DanyaIndiraCharisMalaikaJamilahElisiaJoieIselaAnessaMalenaAideCaterina

Sibling names for Neely

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Neely

Top names of 1974, Neely's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1974Girls' names starting with N