Nelson

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 9 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Nelson is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Portuguese given name5.6M records spelled Nelson22 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, United States

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, French

  Also written Nélson, Nelsón, Nëlsön, Nelsòn, N'Elson

• a separate given name242K records spelled Nelson5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Ecuador, India, United Kingdom

  Also written Nèlson, Nélson, Nelsón

• Russian given name29K records spelled Nelson41 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, United States, Poland, Czechia

  Languages: Russian, Polish, Czech

  Also written Нельсон, Нелсон, Neilson, Нэльсон, Nel'Son

• Indonesian given name26K records spelled Nelson5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, United States

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Nelson, Ńelšoņ, Nelsón

• Lao given name11K records spelled Nelson16 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Laos, Thailand, United States, Philippines

  Languages: Lao, Thai

  Also written เนลสัน, Nelsón, Nélsón, Ñēlsõn, Nelsoñ

• a separate given name10K records spelled Nelson5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Peru, Tanzania, United Kingdom

  Also written Nęlsõn, N̶e̶l̶s̶o̶n̶, N̷͠ȇ̴̄̓̓̒͘ls̄͝ớ̷́̀͘̕n, N̥e̥l̥s̥o̥n̥

97 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Nelson is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, English patronymic surname in -son, 'son of Neil/Nel'.

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In English, son of Nell; first attested John, Robert Nelleson 1324 Wak (Y), 1332 SRCu

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In German, Jewish, likely from Katzenellenbogensohn; also English from Cornelius

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In English, son of Neil; also linked with Admiral Horatio Nelson

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, go back to the same original Ir. personal name, Niall (see Neil).

  as a name·A dictionary of surnames

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Omar Bradleyb. 1893USnot in their usual nameUnited States Army general (1893–1981)
• Nelson Eddyb. 1901USAmerican actor and singer (1901–1967)
• Nelson Goodmanb. 1906USAmerican philosopher (1906–1998)
• Nelson Rockefellerb. 1908USVice President of the United States from 1974 to 1977
• James Algarb. 1912USnot in their usual nameFilm director, screenwriter, film producer (1912–1998)
• Nelson Mandelab. 1918ZAPresident of South Africa and anti-apartheid activist (1918–2013)
• Nelson Riddleb. 1921USAmerican arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator (1921-1985)
• Nelson Piquetb. 1952BRBrazilian racing driver (born 1952)
• Nelson Valdezb. 1983PYParaguayan footballer
• Nelson Évorab. 1984PTIvory Coast-born Portuguese triple jumper

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,440 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Nelson?

We estimate roughly 297 thousand people bear Nelson (counting its spellings and scripts) across 8 countries in our records.

In which country does Nelson have the most bearers?

We estimate about 161 thousand people bear Nelson in Brazil, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled nelson.

Where is Nelson most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Nelson is densest in Ecuador — about 1 in 404 people — even though Brazil holds more of our records for it.

How common is Nelson compared with other names?

In Venezuela, Nelson is the 182nd most common given name of 213,120 given names recorded there.

Is Nelson a male or female name?

Nelson is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Nelson mean?

Recorded meaning: English patronymic of Neil, ‘son of Neil’; later adopted as a given name after Lord Nelson’s victories.