Neal
Neal was given to 82 boys in 2025, #1,914 among boys’ names; 55,305 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 34,600 Americans named Neal and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (63% of everyone recorded); the median is 58 years old and half are between 42 and 69.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Neal by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Neal mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Neal is “a male given name from Irish, transferred from the surname.”
Also “a male given name, variant of Neil.”
/niːl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Neal?
#1,914 among boys’ names, 2025
Neal fell from #1,213 in 2015 to #1,914 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 79.3 to 48.0 per million.
1,222 babies in 1959, the peak
Neal peaked in 1959, when 1,222 boys were given it, #223 among boys’ names. The 82 births of 2025 are 7% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 82 | #1,914 | 0.05 |
| 2024 | 77 | #2,006 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 95 | #1,741 | 0.06 |
| 2022 | 110 | #1,604 | 0.06 |
| 2021 | 110 | #1,582 | 0.06 |
| 2020 | 104 | #1,572 | 0.06 |
| 2019 | 118 | #1,470 | 0.07 |
| 2018 | 102 | #1,615 | 0.06 |
| 2017 | 132 | #1,356 | 0.07 |
| 2016 | 152 | #1,231 | 0.08 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 152 | #1,213 | 0.08 |
| 2014 | 120 | #1,410 | 0.06 |
| 2013 | 99 | #1,575 | 0.05 |
| 2012 | 105 | #1,530 | 0.06 |
| 2011 | 97 | #1,595 | 0.05 |
| 2010 | 114 | #1,453 | 0.06 |
| 2009 | 113 | #1,480 | 0.06 |
| 2008 | 112 | #1,475 | 0.05 |
| 2007 | 116 | #1,409 | 0.06 |
| 2006 | 139 | #1,213 | 0.07 |
| 2005 | 131 | #1,213 | 0.07 |
| 2004 | 112 | #1,321 | 0.06 |
| 2003 | 129 | #1,165 | 0.07 |
| 2002 | 169 | #951 | 0.09 |
| 2001 | 172 | #910 | 0.09 |
| 2000 | 178 | #886 | 0.09 |
| 1999 | 186 | #823 | 0.10 |
| 1998 | 210 | #761 | 0.11 |
| 1997 | 246 | #665 | 0.13 |
| 1996 | 262 | #640 | 0.14 |
| 1995 | 258 | #649 | 0.14 |
| 1994 | 294 | #611 | 0.15 |
| 1993 | 384 | #520 | 0.20 |
| 1992 | 396 | #508 | 0.20 |
| 1991 | 444 | #470 | 0.22 |
| 1990 | 463 | #459 | 0.23 |
| 1989 | 522 | #409 | 0.26 |
| 1988 | 460 | #423 | 0.24 |
| 1987 | 456 | #408 | 0.24 |
| 1986 | 543 | #348 | 0.29 |
| 1985 | 562 | #340 | 0.30 |
| 1984 | 566 | #332 | 0.31 |
| 1983 | 573 | #329 | 0.32 |
| 1982 | 556 | #338 | 0.31 |
| 1981 | 596 | #320 | 0.33 |
| 1980 | 592 | #323 | 0.33 |
| 1979 | 637 | #306 | 0.37 |
| 1978 | 583 | #307 | 0.36 |
| 1977 | 622 | #309 | 0.38 |
| 1976 | 550 | #323 | 0.35 |
| 1975 | 648 | #293 | 0.42 |
| 1974 | 582 | #314 | 0.37 |
| 1973 | 537 | #323 | 0.34 |
| 1972 | 534 | #333 | 0.33 |
| 1971 | 600 | #315 | 0.34 |
| 1970 | 718 | #289 | 0.39 |
| 1969 | 703 | #281 | 0.39 |
| 1968 | 651 | #290 | 0.37 |
| 1967 | 741 | #268 | 0.42 |
| 1966 | 815 | #254 | 0.46 |
| 1965 | 884 | #250 | 0.48 |
| 1964 | 1,128 | #223 | 0.57 |
| 1963 | 1,094 | #227 | 0.54 |
| 1962 | 1,031 | #241 | 0.50 |
| 1961 | 1,122 | #237 | 0.53 |
| 1960 | 1,192 | #233 | 0.56 |
| 1959 | 1,222 | #223 | 0.57 |
| 1958 | 1,157 | #227 | 0.55 |
| 1957 | 1,192 | #218 | 0.55 |
| 1956 | 1,102 | #220 | 0.52 |
| 1955 | 1,060 | #220 | 0.51 |
| 1954 | 1,088 | #212 | 0.53 |
| 1953 | 967 | #216 | 0.49 |
| 1952 | 1,143 | #198 | 0.59 |
| 1951 | 956 | #208 | 0.51 |
| 1950 | 848 | #217 | 0.47 |
| 1949 | 740 | #239 | 0.42 |
| 1948 | 713 | #242 | 0.41 |
| 1947 | 730 | #243 | 0.40 |
| 1946 | 676 | #232 | 0.42 |
| 1945 | 578 | #233 | 0.43 |
| 1944 | 568 | #236 | 0.42 |
| 1943 | 535 | #263 | 0.37 |
| 1942 | 569 | #237 | 0.41 |
| 1941 | 543 | #233 | 0.44 |
| 1940 | 506 | #239 | 0.44 |
| 1939 | 444 | #256 | 0.40 |
| 1938 | 446 | #258 | 0.40 |
| 1937 | 430 | #261 | 0.40 |
| 1936 | 419 | #265 | 0.40 |
| 1935 | 415 | #265 | 0.40 |
| 1934 | 440 | #257 | 0.43 |
| 1933 | 362 | #277 | 0.37 |
| 1932 | 374 | #283 | 0.36 |
| 1931 | 372 | #286 | 0.36 |
| 1930 | 381 | #292 | 0.35 |
| 1929 | 342 | #301 | 0.32 |
| 1928 | 377 | #291 | 0.34 |
| 1927 | 384 | #291 | 0.34 |
| 1926 | 417 | #279 | 0.38 |
| 1925 | 420 | #282 | 0.38 |
| 1924 | 405 | #284 | 0.36 |
| 1923 | 410 | #279 | 0.37 |
| 1922 | 388 | #282 | 0.36 |
| 1921 | 344 | #314 | 0.31 |
| 1920 | 371 | #293 | 0.35 |
| 1919 | 294 | #329 | 0.30 |
| 1918 | 287 | #337 | 0.28 |
| 1917 | 277 | #327 | 0.30 |
| 1916 | 283 | #308 | 0.32 |
| 1915 | 228 | #355 | 0.27 |
| 1914 | 176 | #352 | 0.27 |
| 1913 | 143 | #346 | 0.28 |
| 1912 | 127 | #337 | 0.30 |
| 1911 | 63 | #347 | 0.28 |
| 1910 | 65 | #307 | 0.33 |
| 1909 | 48 | #338 | 0.29 |
| 1908 | 46 | #334 | 0.30 |
| 1907 | 48 | #308 | 0.33 |
| 1906 | 43 | #319 | 0.32 |
| 1905 | 45 | #302 | 0.34 |
| 1904 | 44 | #291 | 0.34 |
| 1903 | 49 | #264 | 0.41 |
| 1902 | 46 | #279 | 0.38 |
| 1901 | 29 | #343 | 0.27 |
| 1900 | 58 | #270 | 0.39 |
| 1899 | 33 | #310 | 0.31 |
| 1898 | 40 | #295 | 0.33 |
| 1897 | 43 | #277 | 0.38 |
| 1896 | 35 | #321 | 0.29 |
| 1895 | 38 | #292 | 0.32 |
| 1894 | 41 | #277 | 0.35 |
| 1893 | 33 | #305 | 0.29 |
| 1892 | 35 | #315 | 0.29 |
| 1891 | 35 | #275 | 0.35 |
| 1890 | 40 | #273 | 0.36 |
| 1889 | 38 | #273 | 0.34 |
| 1888 | 37 | #294 | 0.31 |
| 1887 | 37 | #269 | 0.36 |
| 1886 | 40 | #270 | 0.36 |
| 1885 | 33 | #294 | 0.31 |
| 1884 | 36 | #294 | 0.31 |
| 1883 | 29 | #308 | 0.28 |
| 1882 | 35 | #292 | 0.31 |
| 1881 | 33 | #275 | 0.33 |
| 1880 | 43 | #257 | 0.39 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Neal a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Neal has been given almost only to boys: 257 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Neal: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Neal, and how old are they?
34,600 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 63% of the 55,305 Americans ever recorded as Neal. The median Neal alive today is 58 years old; half are between 42 and 69.
The 2020 Census counted 37,392 people named Neal (182 women and girls, 37,210 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 37,534 born in the U.S. The Census count matches that prediction to within 1%.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,760 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 12,900 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 9,160 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 6,960 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,290 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,440 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Neal born?
The states with the most babies named Neal are New York, California and Illinois, with 24% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 4,693 | #1,185 | 1.0× |
| California | 3,979 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Illinois | 3,041 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 2,775 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 2,678 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Texas | 2,627 | #2,028 | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 1,862 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Massachusetts | 1,700 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Wisconsin | 1,562 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Indiana | 1,442 | not ranked | 1.0× |
Where Neal is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Neal is most over-represented in Hawaii: since 1910 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Neal with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 165,785 babies since 1880, Neal is the second most given (33% of them). In 2025 it was given to 82 of their 478 babies (17%), the third most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Neal
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Neal and names like it
- Compare Neal and NeilBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sNeal peaked in 1959.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Neal since 1910.
- Irish namesWiktionary’s origin for Neal: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1959The year the most babies were named Neal.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Neal alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with NMost given first.