Nelly

What Nelly means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Nelly yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note More popular in England & Wales than the US: #353 vs #1,291 in 2025 Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Nelly?

US: Rising: up from #1719 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #449 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2007, when 208 girls got the name (#1205 that year). First in the US records in 1882.

How common

• About 1 in 9,291 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,093 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 4,473 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WI (0.3 per 1,000 girls), KY (0.29 per 1,000 girls), MN (0.23 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Nelly is #1291 in the US and #353 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 95.1% of US babies named Nelly were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Noella98 US · 12 E&W
• Nella60 US · 45 E&W
• Nela12 US · 45 E&W
• Neela47 US · 5 E&W
• Neila34 US · 3 E&W
• Neyla32 US · 3 E&W
• Neely35 US
• Nelli25 US · 4 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Nelly

Girls

• Valeria#162“to be healthy, to be strong”^*
• Alana#140Form of Elon, meaning “oak tree”^*
• Ella#29Short form of Eleanor, possibly meaning “other”^*
• Lola#275Editor’s note Down from #224 in 2015 to #275 in 2025 in the US
• Nayeli#270Spanish, possibly meaning “I love you”^*
• Leila#259Editor’s note Steady in the US: #247 in 2015 and #259 in 2025

For a brother

• Zayden#213Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 2000, with 11 babies
• Gael#86“hunt”^*
• Beckham#168“homestead”^*
• Cooper#27Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #77 in 2015, #27 in 2025
• Kohen#295Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #295 vs #896 in 2025
• Caden#201Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #201 vs #745 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Nelly’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.