Nelson

Where Nelson comes from

From Middle English Neil + -son and Nell + -son. * In the United States, also an Anglicisation of North Germanic (Scandinavian) surnames such as Nilsen, Nielsen, and Nilsson, equivalent to "son of Nicholas".
— Wiktionary's entry for Nelson
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #137 among boys — 99 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1882
    Peak, #134
    104 babies named Nelson — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1908
    Nelson Rockefeller born
    Vice President of the United States from 1974 to 1977
  4. 1918
    Nelson Mandela born
    President of South Africa and anti-apartheid activist
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Nelson Mandela · President of South Africa and anti-apartheid activist, 1918–2013
  • Nelson Rockefeller · Vice President of the United States from 1974 to 1977, 1908–1979
  • Nelson Piquet · Brazilian racing driver, born 1952
  • Nelson Piquet Jr. · Brazilian racing driver, born 1985
  • Nelson Valdez · Paraguayan footballer, born 1983

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.