Boy · Irish through Old Norse and Norman French
Nigel
Say it: NY-jul
Meaning
From Latin Nigellus, a medieval Latinization of Norse Njáll / Irish Niall, whose meaning is uncertain; the link to Latin niger 'black' is a folk etymology.
Disputedsharp disagreement, or a popular meaning that is not supported.
Used in Norman England.
Its wave through time
Most used in the 1990s
In the United States
- 11,991 babies given this name since 1915
- At its height in 1994, about 1 in 4,300 boys
- 79 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Nigellus, Niel
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Domesday Book (1086) source
- Medieval European charters and records
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.