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Nelda

#9,903 in 2025Girls' name

Elaboration of Nell

Nelda has been given to 20,144 babies in the U.S. since 1884. In 2025 it ranked #9,903 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1938, with 567 recorded.

Babies named Nelda, 2025

1 in 332,000

Nelda over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Nelda: meaning, origin, and history

Elaboration of Nell

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Nelda means

Nelda is a elaboration of Nell.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Nelda is used in English.

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈnɛl.də/ for Nelda.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Nell.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 20,139 girls were recorded with the name Nelda between 1884 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 567 in 1938; its best national rank was #264 in 1939.

Over 10 years its rank rose, from #15,874 in 2015 to #9,903 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Nelda between 1935 and 1935. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1935; its best national rank was #4,007 in 1935.

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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Nelda?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 332,000
10 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 161,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#9,903
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
229,791 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nelda 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 229,791 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nelda. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Neldas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nelda was born before 1940 — so the typical Nelda is around 85 today.

Median birth year
1940
About 85 years old
Biggest decade
1930s
24.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
0.53%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
5,701
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1930s — 24.5% of all recorded uses (4,931).

Is Nelda 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
−521
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
+5,971
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.67×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
1.8%
Peak was 1938 (567)
Years since peak
87
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
30.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#264
1939

Spellings of Nelda

Nelda is not the most common spelling — Ella is, with 23.8% against Nelda's 1.4%.

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 Nelda is used

Across 1910–2025, Nelda was most concentrated in Texas — about 1 in 1,887 girls, against 1 in 8,713 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

053 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Texas1 in 1,887
  2. 2Oklahoma1 in 2,439
  3. 3Mississippi1 in 2,703
  4. 4Louisiana1 in 3,030
  5. 5Alabama1 in 3,226
  6. 6Arkansas1 in 3,226
  7. 7Kansas1 in 5,556
  8. 8Kentucky1 in 5,556

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. Nelda has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Nelda around the world

Where Nelda 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
    2020–2024
    #5,892
    in 2024
  • France
    1923–1929
    #1,252
    in 1929
  • South Australia
    1951–1965
    #674
    in 1965

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Nelda by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#9,903
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#264
1939
Peak year
1938
567 that year
First recorded
1884
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
20,139
Count in 2025
10

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,007
1935
Peak year
1935
5 that year
First recorded
1935
Last recorded
1935
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Nelda

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

NellyNellNelleZeldaNellaGoldaNeliaHildaNellieEldaWildaImeldaGildaMatildaVeldaTildaHuldaNelliNelmaNelvaNelyNelaNelsyGriselda

Names with a curve like Nelda

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

JerryEarnestineEarleneGlennaLavonneBeverleyDelorisLupeBettyeJoeTommieDona

Sibling names for Nelda

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 Nelda

Top names of 1938, Nelda's peak yearThe 1930s in fullOther names that peaked in 1939More old lady namesGirls' names starting with N