Neil
Featured in baby name books
Neil is an Irish Gaelic name usually read as “champion,” with “cloud” and “passionate” as other suggestions; the original spelling is Niall. Neil grew popular among kings and chieftains thanks to Niall of the Nine Hostages, gave rise to the surnames O’Neill and MacNeill, and was Latinized as Nigel. Famous Neils include astronaut Neil Armstrong, playwright Neil Simon, and singers Neil Diamond and Neil Young.
Sources: 10,000 Baby Names, Baby Names Book, Baby Names (Laura Emerson), Baby Names Made Easy, Baby Names Your Child Can Live With, The Best Baby Names for Boys, The Everything Baby Names Book, Numerology for Baby Names, Irish Names for Children, 1,107 Baby Names That Stand the Test of Time
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Usage of Neil in different languages / cultures
The list below was created by gathering names from various sources for different languages, and then matching Neil against each list of names.
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Albanian
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Arabic
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Armenian
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Bengali
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Bulgarian
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Catalan
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Chinese
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Cornish
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Croatian
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Czech
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Danish
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Dothraki
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Dutch
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English
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Estonian
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Filipino
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Finnish
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French
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Georgian
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German
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Greek
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Hawaiian
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Hebrew
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Hindi
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Hungarian
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Icelandic
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Indonesian
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Irish
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Italian
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Japanese
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Khmer
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Klingon
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Korean
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Latin
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Latvian
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Lithuanian
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Macedonian
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Norwegian
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Persian
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Polish
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Portuguese
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Romanian
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Russian
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Scottish
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Serbian
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Slovak
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Slovenian
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Spanish
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Swahili
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Swedish
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Telugu
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Thai
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Turkish
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Ukrainian
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Vietnamese
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Welsh
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Yiddish
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Yoruba
Note: In some cases it is possible for the check mark to be missing even if Neil is used in a particular country, as almost no source name list has 100% coverage.
Neil in official name statistics
United States
In 2025, 288 boys were named Neil, making it the #850 boys' name in the US. Since 1880, 104,869 boys have been named Neil, with the most (1,959) in 1954. It is most common, relative to births, in Utah, Washington and New Jersey.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880–2025. Names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year are not listed.
Other countries
Counts are babies born that year, or living people for "all ages" rows, as published by each country's statistics office or population register.
Storms named Neil
Tropical storms, hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones that have been named Neil, newest first.
| Storm | Year | Ocean | Peak wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tropical storm Neil | 2019 | South Pacific | 74 km/h |
| Tropical storm Neil | 2000 | South Pacific | 74 km/h |
| Tropical storm Neil | 1999 | Western Pacific | 93 km/h |
| Cyclone Neil (Category 3) | 1981 | South Indian Ocean | 194 km/h |
Source: IBTrACS, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Peak wind is the highest sustained wind recorded for the storm.
Towns named Neil
There are 11 towns and villages with Neil in their name, in 3 countries.
🇺🇸 United States 9🇨🇦 Canada 1🇬🇧 United Kingdom 1
| Name | Where | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neil | Mississippi, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| Neil | Tennessee, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| Neil Corner | Pennsylvania, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| O'Neil | New Brunswick, 🇨🇦 Canada | – | Map |
| O'Neil | Florida, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| O'Neil | Mississippi, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| O'Neil | Michigan, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| Kincardine O’Neil | Scotland, 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | – | Map |
| O'Neil Corners | Oregon, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
| O'Neil Landing | New Mexico, 🇺🇸 United States | – | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
Lakes named Neil
There are 39 lakes and reservoirs with Neil in their name, in 2 countries.
🇺🇸 United States 20🇨🇦 Canada 19
| Name | Where | |
|---|---|---|
| Lac Neil | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac Neil | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac Neil | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Neil Lake | Ontario, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Neil Lake | Ontario, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Neil Lake | Saskatchewan, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Neil Lake | Saskatchewan, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Neil Lake | Northwest Territories, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Neil Lake | Texas, 🇺🇸 United States | Map |
| Neil Lake | California, 🇺🇸 United States | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
Neil songs
3 songs and musical works on Wikidata have Neil in their title. The best known:
Song data: Wikidata (CC0), ordered by how widely each song is covered on Wikipedia.
Celebrities named Neil
Based on celebrities listed on Wikipedia, filtered to only those with the first name Neil.
Neil Adams
Neil Armstrong
Neil Aspinall
Neil Austin
See more...
Fictional characters named Neil
Characters from films and TV series, from Wikidata, ordered by how widely they are covered on Wikipedia.
Character data: Wikidata (CC0). Images: Wikimedia Commons; click an image for its author and licence.
Neil as a pet name
FurryName has found 22 dogs named Neil in public pet registers, making it the #3,161 dog name there. Most of them are registered in Adelaide (1), Framingham (1), Golden Plains Shire (1). Neil as a dog name →
Neil products
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Neil pillow
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