Nigel

Where Nigel comes from

English form of Latin Nigellus, from nigellus (“slightly black”), diminutive of niger (“black”), used in the Middle Ages to Latinize Norman Néel and Old Irish Níall, from which the former is derived via Old Norse Njáll. Compare Neil.
— Wiktionary's entry for Nigel
  • Latin
  • 2 syllables
Nigel through the years
  1. 1929
    First appearance
    #3,559 among boys with 6 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1929
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name. From this year on, more boys have.
  3. 1953
    Nigel Mansell born
    British racing driver
  4. 1984
    Nigel de Jong born
    Dutch association football player
  5. 1994
    Peak, #477
    448 babies named Nigel, the most in any year.
  6. 2010
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #933.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Latin, of mostly British usage.
Namesakes
  • Nigel Mansell · British racing driver, born 1953
  • Nigel de Jong · Dutch association football player, born 1984
  • Nigel Short · English chess player and writer, born 1965
  • Nigel Hawthorne · British actor, 1929–2001
  • Nigel Reo-Coker · English association football player, born 1984

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.