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Nelly

#1,294 in 2025Girls' name

Diminutive of Nell

Nelly has been given to 7,871 babies in the U.S. since 1882. In 2025 it ranked #1,294 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2007, with 208 recorded.

Babies named Nelly, 2025

1 in 19,200

Nelly over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Nelly: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Nell

English

What Nelly means

Nelly is a diminutive of Nell.

Origin, language, and formation

Nelly is used in Danish, Malay, Norwegian and Swedish. Its origins include English.

Nelly comes through English Nelly.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Nell.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Malay, Nelly is pronounced [nɛ.li].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 7,792 girls were recorded with the name Nelly between 1882 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 208 in 2007; its best national rank was #625 in 1882.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,029 in 2020 to #1,294 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,725 in 2015 to #1,294 in 2025.

In the United States, 79 boys were recorded with the name Nelly between 2002 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 9 in 2021; its best national rank was #8,632 in 2021.

Over 10 years its rank rose, from #11,676 in 2015 to #8,706 in 2025.

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 Nelly?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 19,200
173 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 9,290
0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,294
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
13,284 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Nelly 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 5003%

Put another way: gather 13,284 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nelly. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nellys were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nelly was born before 1998 — so the typical Nelly is around 27 today.

Median birth year
1998
About 27 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
20.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
47.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
6,988
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 20.5% of all recorded uses (1,596).

Is Nelly 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
+68
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+735
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+431
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.42×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
83.2%
Peak was 2007 (208)
Years since peak
18
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
17.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#625
1882

Spellings of Nelly

Nelly is not the most common spelling — Kelly is, with 20.3% against Nelly's 0.33%.

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 Nelly is used

Across 2016–2025, Nelly was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 8,333 girls, against 1 in 12,727 across all states with data. It was least common in Georgia (1 in 100,000).

112 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 8,333
  2. 2Texas1 in 8,333
  3. 3New York1 in 9,091
  4. 4Florida1 in 11,111
  5. 5Illinois1 in 11,111
  6. 6Minnesota1 in 11,111
  7. 7New Jersey1 in 12,500
  8. 8Washington1 in 12,500

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.

Nelly around the world

Where Nelly 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
    2001–2025
    #353
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2018–2025
    #632
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2020–2022
    #418
    in 2022
  • Ireland
    2007–2025
    #608
    in 2025
  • France
    1900–2025
    #711
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2025
    #189
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #670
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1972–2012
    #871
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Nelly

People whose public names include Nelly, 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.

Nelly in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Nelly. Linked forms have their own page here.

NelaNellNelyNelleNelliNellieNellija

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Nelly by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,294
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 735
Best rank ever
#625
1882
Peak year
2007
208 that year
First recorded
1882
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,792
Count in 2025
173

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#8,706
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#8,632
2021
Peak year
2021
9 that year
First recorded
2002
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
79
Count in 2025
9

Names similar to Nelly

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

NelleNellaNeldaNeliaBillyNellMillyDollyAllyTillyReillyEllyPollyKallyNelliNelmaNelvaNelyNelaNelsyLillyZullyHallyNelida

Names with a curve like Nelly

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

LeanaLiliaDalilaLuisaStarKarmenLidiaCharisLupitaKayleenZaidaKeren

Sibling names for Nelly

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 Nelly

Top names of 2007, Nelly's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 1882Girls' names starting with NBronte NamesHelen Variations & NicknamesMalay Names