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Nelly

“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 · #1291 in the US (2025) · 2020s

Nelly has appeared in US records since 1882 — best rank #596 (1882) · 7,792 babies named Nelly all-time · 1 in 9,100 girls born in 2025.

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.

Famous Nellys

Nelly Sachs — Jewish German poet and playwright (1891-1970)
Nelly Furtado — Portuguese-Canadian singer and songwriter
Nelly Ciobanu — Moldovan singer
Nelly Korda — American golfer
Nelly Kaplan — French filmmaker and writer (1931–2020)

In stories & tradition

Nelly Dean — Wuthering Heights
Nelly Rapp — Nelly Rapp
Nelly — Adelson e Salvini

What Nellys become

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.

Browse more girl names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.