Boys' name · peaked in 1952
Neal name popularity since 1925
50,157 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Neal. Half of them were born in 1961 or earlier, so the typical Neal is about 65 years old in 2026. Neal peaked in 1952 as the #198 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 50,157
- Named Neal, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,914 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% boys
- 160 girls · 49,997 boys
- Most popular in
- Hawaii
- 3.02× its national share
Peak year is the year Neal made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Neal births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1959. Measured as a share of all babies, Neal peaked in 1952.
- Steepest fall: Between 1993 and 1998, Neal's share of baby boys fell by 44%, from 1 in 5,110 to 1 in 9,100.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Neal's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Neal.
Decade by decade
Babies named Neal in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 40 | 1,940 | – |
| 1930s | 36 | 4,083 | #265 |
| 1940s | 17 | 6,158 | #233 |
| 1950s | 21 | 10,735 | #220 |
| 1960s | 18 | 9,361 | #250 |
| 1970s | 18 | 6,011 | #293 |
| 1980s | 10 | 5,426 | #340 |
| 1990s | 0 | 3,143 | #650 |
| 2000s | 0 | 1,371 | #1,214 |
| 2010s | 0 | 1,191 | #1,213 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 578 | #1,914 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
38.3% of babies named Neal from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Neal is most popular
The index compares Neal's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Neal.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | 3.02× | 440 |
| Nebraska | 1.82× | 596 |
| Iowa | 1.81× | 1,071 |
| Wisconsin | 1.62× | 1,486 |
| Massachusetts | 1.51× | 1,674 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Neal's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Neal.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Neal (1952).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data