Nellie

Where Nellie comes from

Suffixed with -ie, compare Noll and Neddie, respectively from Oliver and Edward.
— Wiktionary's entry for Nellie
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1864
    Nellie Bly born
    American journalist
  2. 1876
    Nellie Tayloe Ross born
    First woman state governor in the U.S.
  3. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #18 among girls — 995 babies in the first year on record.
  4. 1881
    Peak, #14
    1,096 babies named Nellie — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1955
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #386.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the female given names Eleanor, Ellen, Helen, and Chanel; popular as a formal given name at the turn of the 20th century.
  • A diminutive of the female given name Chanel.
  • A diminutive of the male given name Nelson.
Namesakes
  • Nellie Bly · American journalist, 1864–1922
  • Nellie Tayloe Ross · First woman state governor in the U.S., 1876–1977
  • Nellie McClung · Canadian author, social activist, suffragette & politician, 1873–1951
  • Nellie Connally · First Lady of Texas from 1963 to 1969, 1919–2006
  • Nellie Halstead · British athlete, 1910–1991

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.