Nelson: popularity, rarity & how many are alive today

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Names › Nelson

Nelson

Recorded 80,140 times in US records since 1880. Peak year: 1959.

#1689 ↘

U.S. rank · 2025

1 in 11,051

U.S. · 2025 records

Rare gem

rarity tier

≈50,000

alive today (estimate) ⓘ

↘ fading

10-yr trend

How many Nelsons are there?

Alive in the US today estimate

Roughly 50,000 Nelsons are alive in the US today, we estimate. About 1 in 6,800 Americans.

Made from recorded births by year and sex, multiplied by survival to today's age (SSA life table). It can't see immigration, and it's an estimate, not a census: how the living estimate is made.

Popularity over time

Nelson through the years, 1880–2025

1959 · 1,084 1,084 0

18802025

Peak Nelson year: 1959 (ringed), with 1,084 recorded. Current usage: ~99% boys. counts of people issued a Social Security number, not a full count of births.

The full Nelson story is being researched

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Every figure on this page is computed from the U.S. Social Security Administration's national baby-names data (ssa.gov), and the living estimate uses the SSA actuarial life table: how we calculate this. Data through 2025; refreshed Jun 2026; living estimate as of 2026.