Nelson

What Nelson means

Means “son of Nicholas”

In the United States, also an Anglicisation of North Germanic (Scandinavian) surnames such as Nilsen, Nielsen, and Nilsson, equivalent to "son of Nicholas ".

Source: Wiktionary, “Nelson” (revision 93672763), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Nelson?

US: Falling: down from #626 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #1159 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1899, when 107 boys got the name (#145 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 5,694 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 14,312 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 6,547 baby boys 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 MD (0.48 per 1,000 boys), SC (0.42 per 1,000 boys), NY (0.37 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Nelson is #824 in the US and #1406 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Nelson were boys.

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

• Nilson11 US

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 Nelson

Boys

• Curtis#984“polite, courteous”^*
• Keith#800“wood”^*
• Corey#778possibly “troop, host, company”^*
• Kyle#508“narrows”^*
• Travis#434“to cross over”^*
• Douglas#807“black + stream”^*

For a sister

• Kelly#851Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 18,234 babies; 319 in 2025
• Tiffany#878Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1988, with 18,364 babies; 304 in 2025
• Ashley#164“ash tree + wood, clearing”^*
• Kelsey#814Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #343 in 2015, #814 in 2025
• Kimberly#302Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #108 in 2015, #302 in 2025
• Shelby#649Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1991, with 10,220 babies; 444 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Nelson’s. Rank is US 2025.