Neil

Where Neil comes from

Anglicized form of Goidelic/Irish Niall. Doublet of Niall.
— Wiktionary's entry for Neil
  • Irish
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #350 among boys — 24 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1930
    Neil Armstrong born
    American astronaut and lunar explorer
  3. 1953
    Peak, #146
    1,937 babies named Neil — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1960
    Neil Gaiman born
    English writer
  5. 1991
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #283.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Irish.
Namesakes
  • Neil Armstrong · American astronaut and lunar explorer, 1930–2012
  • Neil Gaiman · English writer, born 1960
  • Neil Young · Canadian singer, songwriter and filmmaker, born 1945
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson · American astrophysicist and science communicator, born 1958
  • Neil Patrick Harris · American actor, born 1973

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.