Names/N

Nelda

girls’ nameFadedCompare

Nelda is outside the top 1,000 in 2024, with 11 births. Its best rank was 264th, in 1939.

Rank in 2024
outside the top 1,000
Births in 2024
110.00% of girls
Peak year
1938567 births
Best rank
#264in 1939
Since 1884
20,129people given the name
Babies named Nelda, by year of birthgirls
02505007501k18801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

20,129 girls have been named Nelda in the United States since 1884, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1938, with 567 births.

The name has all but left use: 11 births in 2024, against 567 at the peak.

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1940, and the 1930s alone account for 24%. It has spent 66 of 145 years in the top 1,000.

Rank among girls, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)
#1#250#500#750#100018801900192019401960198020002020

By decade

Decadegirls named Nelda
1880s28
1890s74
1900s235
1910s1,130
1920s3,170
1930s4,931
1940s4,870
1950s3,211
1960s1,488
1970s536
1980s254
1990s99
2000s57
2010s28
2020s18

In 1938, its biggest year

Nelda was the 266th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1938 were Mary, Barbara, Patricia, Betty and Shirley. See all of 1938.

Names that rose and fell with Nelda

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.