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“Variant of Nellie — The other Aenor (from Latin alia); root sense riches and fame” — Old Provencal/Latin, ultimately Germanic; Arabic light also suggested origin
Girl's name · #1294 in the US (2025) · 2020s
Nelly reached its best rank, #625, in 1882 and ranked #1294 in 2025. Roughly 7,800 girls have been named Nelly since 1882. Together with its spelling variant Nellie (#533), Nelly would rank around #423 with about 740 births last year — the newborns split about 77/23 between Nellie and Nelly.
Around the world: about 1 in 910 girls in Norway (2025) · about 1 in 1,300 girls in Sweden (2025) · about 1 in 2,100 girls in England & Wales (2025).
Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 16 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.
Among 607 notable people named Nelly:
Entertainers appear 1.8× more often than among typical names — e.g. Nelly Furtado, Portuguese-Canadian singer and songwriter.
Similar names: Nellie · Luisa · Nella · Milly · Adela · Aleyah
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