Masculine dossier · first seen 1880
Nelson
Stable Decline
Gradual decline from 1959
Peak era
1959
Peak births
1,084
Current vitality
Fragile
Peak generation
Boomer
Quick answers about Nelson
How many people are named Nelson?
An estimated 47,459 living Americans are named Nelson.
How rare is Nelson?
Nelson is uncommon among babies today, with 300 boys receiving the name in 2025, down 72.3% from its 1959 peak.
How old is the typical Nelson?
The median age of a living American named Nelson is approximately 43 years, with most bearers falling between 26 and 62 years old.
Is Nelson still popular?
Not especially. Nelson has been declining since its 1959 peak and registered 300 births in 2025.
Where is Nelson most common?
Nelson has its strongest geographic signal in Hawaii, where it appears 6.3× more often than the national baseline.
1880Peak 19592025
Peak year
1959
Decline from peak
72.3%
2025
300
All-time
79,709
Where it lives now
Nelson is most concentrated in Hawaii — about 5.4× the national rate in the 1960s.
States where Nelson is given more often than the national average — its present-day heartland.