Explore the Family Name Neils

The meaning of Neils

1. German: from a shortened form of the personal name Cornelius. 2. Irish and English: variant of Neil or Neal, with excrescent English -s. Some characteristic forenames: German Gerhard, Eldor, Kurt.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Neils in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Neils has seen a slight decrease in rank from 2000 to 2010, moving from 34,630th to 36,204th. This is a change of -4.55%. The count of people with this surname has remained relatively steady, increasing slightly from 618 in 2000 to 619 in 2010, a growth of just 0.16%. The proportion of people named Neils per 100,000 also witnessed a small decline, dropping by 8.7% over the decade.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#34,630	#36,204	-4.55%
Count	618	619	0.16%
Proportion per 100k	0.23	0.21	-8.7%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Neils

The ethnicity data from the Decennial U.S. Census reveals interesting changes in the ethnic identity associated with the surname Neils between 2000 and 2010. The largest group identifying with this surname was of White ethnicity, which saw a minor decrease of 4.48%, from 86.25% in 2000 to 82.39% in 2010. The second largest group was Black, which increased from 10.84% in 2000 to 12.92% in 2010, marking a rise of 19.19%. There was also a significant increase in the Hispanic demographic, from 1.62% in 2000 to 3.07% in 2010, a jump of 89.51%. The percentage of people identifying as two or more races fell slightly from 1.29% to 1.13%. Meanwhile, there were no recorded individuals of Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native ethnicity bearing the surname Neils during either census year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	86.25%	82.39%	-4.48%
Black	10.84%	12.92%	19.19%
Hispanic	1.62%	3.07%	89.51%
Two or More Races	1.29%	1.13%	-12.4%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%