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Boy

Neil

As a boy's name, Neil traces back to Irish, where it is understood to mean "Irish Niall". It peaked back in the 1950s and has been gradually easing since. In the current registry, it is a name plenty of people share. Few names stick around this long: it shows up across almost the entire twelve-decade span this registry covers.

IrishIrish "Niall"
EtymologyMeaning "champion" or "cloud" (disputed)
Births by decade
1900s
398
1910s
2,437
1920s
5,739
1930s
9,511
1940s
12,449
1950s
17,763
1960s
13,697
1970s
14,126
1980s
11,927
1990s
6,985
2000s
3,808
2010s
3,137
Peaked in the 1950s · 101,977 total U.S. births since 1900