Nelo

Boys' name

Diminutive of Manoel

Nelo has been given to 19 babies in the U.S. since 1935. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 2023, with 8 recorded.

Babies named Nelo, 2023

1 in 414,000

Nelo over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Nelo: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Manoel

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Nelo means

Nelo is a diminutive of Manoel.

Origin, language, and formation

Nelo is used in Galician.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Manoel.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 19 boys were recorded with the name Nelo between 1935 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 8 in 2023; its best national rank was #4,008 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 Nelo?

Nelo had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2023, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2023: 1 in 414,000; 8 of 3,314,783 births
Among boys only: 1 in 214,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2023: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 287,205 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Nelo sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2023 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 287,205 children born in 2023 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Nelo. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Nelos were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Nelo was born before 2017 — so the typical Nelo is around 8 today.

Median birth year: 2017; About 8 years old
Biggest decade: 2020s; 42.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 73.7%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 14; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2020s — 42.1% of all recorded uses (8).

Is Nelo 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: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 2023 (8)
Years since peak: 2; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Not enough data; Too few years
Best rank ever: #4,008; 1935

Spellings of Nelo

Nelo is not the most common spelling — Leo is, with 25.2% against Nelo's <0.01%.

Leo25.2%259,988
Eli14.9%153,495
Neil10.2%104,869
Angelo8.4%86,106
Nelson7.7%79,709
Neal5.3%55,048
Noel5.1%52,096
Milo4.3%43,847

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.

Nelo around the world

Where Nelo 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.

France
2003–2017
#4,458
in 2017

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Nelo by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #4,008; 1935
Peak year: 2023; 8 that year
First recorded: 1935
Last recorded: 2023
All-time count: 19
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Nelo

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

Amelo Nelly Nelse Kaelo Helo Nellis Zaelo Nell Nelda Maelo Camelo Kamelo Kanelo Elo Cielo Nelton Marcielo Meelo Melo Nelvin Lamelo Anyelo Neldon Anjelo

Sibling names for Nelo

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

For a sister

Isha Oaklee Jenesis Kamari Ellianna Maddie Promise Salem

For a brother

Gian Rishi Gray Koen Yael Anakin Mikael Eleazar

Explore around Nelo

Top names of 2023, Nelo's peak year The 2020s in full Other names that peaked in 1935 Boys' names starting with N Galician Boy Names Galician Names