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Nil

boy name
Origin
Catalan
Syllables
1
Peak era
Rare
Today
▬ Steady

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Meaning

the Catalan form of the river Nile, also read as a form of Neil; a Catalonia top-3 boys' name in 2025

The story

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How popular is Nil around the world?

In the United States, Nil is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025. In Spain, 12,328 residents are named Nil, the 228th most common name among men, with a mean age of 13.1 years.

Nil is on the official records of the United States, Spain, France, Mexico City, Argentina, England and Wales, Chile and Brazil.

United States

on record

In the United States, Nil is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025.

1890srare in US records2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Nil has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

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Spain

#67 · 2024

In Spain, 12,328 residents are named Nil, the 228th most common name among men, with a mean age of 13.1 years.
In Spain, Nil was the 67th most common name among boys born in 2024.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

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France

1 in 11,000

In France, about 35 boys named Nil were born in 2025, ranked 1,060th among boys that year.
In France, about 25 girls named Nil were born in 2025, ranked 1,319th among girls that year.

1930peak 2025

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

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Mexico City City

1 in 59,000

In Mexico City, there were 2 registrations of Nil in 2022.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.

Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023

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Argentina

1 in 83,000

In Argentina, 8 newborns were given the name Nil in 2024.

2012peak 20212024

share of that year’s name registrations

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

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England and Wales

1 in 120,000

In England and Wales, 5 girls named Nil were born in 2025, ranked 4,201st among girls that year.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

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Chile

1 in 180,000

In Chile, 1 boy was registered as Nil in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.

First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021

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Brazil

1 in 330,000

At the 2022 census, 586 people in Brazil were named Nil, ranked 11,991st, with a median age of 34.
Among people named Nil living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.

1950speak 1990s2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

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Montevideo City

last on record 2003

Nil is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

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South Australia

last on record 1964

Nil is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

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Not on the record in Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

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Keep exploring

Catalan baby names · Short names

The Nil deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Nil truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Nil fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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