Neill
Neill was last recorded in 2021, when 7 babies were given it; 1,834 Americans have been recorded with it between 1912 and 2021 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,100 Americans named Neill and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (60% of everyone recorded); the median is 52 years old and half are between 40 and 69.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Neill by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Neill mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Neill is “a male given name from Irish, variant of Neil.”
Variant spelling of Neil, anglicised form of Goidelic/Irish Niall.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Neill?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #10,464, in 2021; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
36 babies in 1950, the peak
Neill peaked in 1950, when 36 boys were given it, #1,214 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7 | #10,464 | 4.0 |
| 2020 | 8 | #9,295 | 4.6 |
| 2018 | 7 | #10,407 | 3.9 |
| 2014 | 5 | #13,443 | 2.6 |
| 2012 | 7 | #10,430 | 3.7 |
| 2010 | 6 | #11,758 | 3.1 |
| 2009 | 6 | #12,024 | 3.0 |
| 2008 | 7 | #10,682 | 3.4 |
| 2005 | 15 | #5,487 | 7.5 |
| 2003 | 6 | #10,479 | 3.0 |
Every recorded year (100)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 5 | #11,780 | 2.6 |
| 2000 | 7 | #8,839 | 3.6 |
| 1999 | 8 | #7,649 | 4.2 |
| 1998 | 14 | #4,800 | 7.3 |
| 1997 | 10 | #5,956 | 5.3 |
| 1996 | 13 | #4,798 | 6.9 |
| 1995 | 8 | #6,798 | 4.2 |
| 1994 | 12 | #5,021 | 6.2 |
| 1993 | 12 | #4,904 | 6.1 |
| 1992 | 24 | #2,895 | 12.0 |
| 1991 | 19 | #3,287 | 9.4 |
| 1990 | 22 | #2,922 | 10.7 |
| 1989 | 22 | #2,853 | 11.0 |
| 1988 | 24 | #2,484 | 12.5 |
| 1987 | 10 | #4,470 | 5.4 |
| 1986 | 23 | #2,402 | 12.5 |
| 1985 | 19 | #2,670 | 10.3 |
| 1984 | 16 | #2,909 | 8.9 |
| 1983 | 23 | #2,253 | 12.8 |
| 1982 | 17 | #2,787 | 9.4 |
| 1981 | 21 | #2,387 | 11.7 |
| 1980 | 30 | #1,895 | 16.8 |
| 1979 | 23 | #2,213 | 13.4 |
| 1978 | 29 | #1,819 | 17.7 |
| 1977 | 24 | #2,045 | 14.6 |
| 1976 | 24 | #2,035 | 15.3 |
| 1975 | 34 | #1,553 | 21.8 |
| 1974 | 17 | #2,428 | 10.8 |
| 1973 | 24 | #1,859 | 15.4 |
| 1972 | 14 | #2,622 | 8.6 |
| 1971 | 33 | #1,512 | 18.7 |
| 1970 | 21 | #1,971 | 11.3 |
| 1969 | 21 | #1,845 | 11.7 |
| 1968 | 20 | #1,814 | 11.5 |
| 1967 | 17 | #1,953 | 9.7 |
| 1966 | 19 | #1,794 | 10.7 |
| 1965 | 14 | #2,236 | 7.5 |
| 1964 | 24 | #1,646 | 12.0 |
| 1963 | 18 | #1,941 | 8.9 |
| 1962 | 25 | #1,609 | 12.1 |
| 1961 | 20 | #1,858 | 9.4 |
| 1960 | 15 | #2,178 | 7.0 |
| 1959 | 24 | #1,653 | 11.2 |
| 1958 | 25 | #1,578 | 11.8 |
| 1957 | 32 | #1,402 | 14.8 |
| 1956 | 17 | #1,999 | 8.0 |
| 1955 | 28 | #1,476 | 13.6 |
| 1954 | 28 | #1,454 | 13.7 |
| 1953 | 31 | #1,371 | 15.7 |
| 1952 | 32 | #1,340 | 16.5 |
| 1951 | 29 | #1,392 | 15.4 |
| 1950 | 36 | #1,214 | 20.1 |
| 1949 | 22 | #1,599 | 12.4 |
| 1948 | 30 | #1,339 | 17.1 |
| 1947 | 33 | #1,286 | 18.0 |
| 1946 | 28 | #1,348 | 17.2 |
| 1945 | 21 | #1,481 | 15.6 |
| 1944 | 19 | #1,612 | 13.9 |
| 1943 | 25 | #1,424 | 17.5 |
| 1942 | 24 | #1,451 | 17.4 |
| 1941 | 19 | #1,626 | 15.5 |
| 1940 | 32 | #1,200 | 27.6 |
| 1939 | 12 | #2,136 | 10.8 |
| 1938 | 21 | #1,509 | 18.9 |
| 1937 | 19 | #1,618 | 17.8 |
| 1936 | 17 | #1,705 | 16.4 |
| 1935 | 19 | #1,637 | 18.2 |
| 1934 | 17 | #1,769 | 16.5 |
| 1933 | 16 | #1,811 | 16.1 |
| 1932 | 11 | #2,422 | 10.5 |
| 1931 | 19 | #1,677 | 18.3 |
| 1930 | 12 | #2,405 | 10.9 |
| 1929 | 19 | #1,770 | 17.7 |
| 1928 | 17 | #1,945 | 15.3 |
| 1927 | 14 | #2,261 | 12.4 |
| 1926 | 21 | #1,695 | 18.9 |
| 1925 | 20 | #1,783 | 17.9 |
| 1924 | 15 | #2,192 | 13.2 |
| 1923 | 15 | #2,198 | 13.7 |
| 1922 | 12 | #2,590 | 11.0 |
| 1921 | 17 | #2,031 | 15.4 |
| 1920 | 14 | #2,304 | 13.2 |
| 1919 | 18 | #1,858 | 18.4 |
| 1918 | 18 | #1,879 | 17.8 |
| 1917 | 12 | #2,381 | 13.0 |
| 1916 | 12 | #2,359 | 13.5 |
| 1915 | 14 | #2,039 | 16.5 |
| 1914 | 11 | #2,065 | 16.8 |
| 1913 | 12 | #1,645 | 23.4 |
| 1912 | 6 | #2,467 | 14.0 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Neill a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Neill has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 100 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Neill: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Neill, and how old are they?
1,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 60% of the 1,834 Americans ever recorded as Neill. The median Neill alive today is 52 years old; half are between 40 and 69.
The 2020 Census counted 1,347 people named Neill (28 women and girls, 1,319 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,209 born in the U.S. The Census count is 11% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 72 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 322 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 323 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 270 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 89 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 27 |
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).
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 165,785 babies since 1880, Neill is the fourth most given (1.1% of them). In 2025 none of their 478 babies recorded by SSA was a Neill (SSA lists a name only with 5 or more babies of one sex).
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 Neill
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 Neill and names like it
- Compare Neill and NeilBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sNeill peaked in 1950.
- North Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Neill since 1910.
- The top names of 1950The year the most babies were named Neill.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Neill alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with NMost given first.