Nell

Where Nell comes from

The dictionaries list Nell as a given name — a diminutive of the female given names Eleanor, Ellen, and Helen — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1650
    Nell Gwyn born
    Royal mistress
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #169 among girls — 77 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1886
    Peak, #144
    175 babies named Nell — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1948
    Nell Carter born
    American actress and singer
  5. 1957
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,173.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the female given names Eleanor, Ellen, and Helen
Namesakes
  • Nell Gwyn · Royal mistress, 1650–1687
  • Nell Carter · American actress and singer, 1948–2003
  • Nell Tiger Free · English actress, born 1999
  • Nell Hall Hopman · Australian female tennis player, 1909–1968
  • Nell Shipman · actress, screenwriter, producer, animal trainer, 1892–1970

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.