MEANING & CONTEXT
What does Nelson mean?
Nelson began as an English patronymic surname meaning son of Neil. It later became a personal name used in English-speaking settings and in India.
Spellings in Indian scripts
Devanagari
नेल्सन
Conventional spelling
Malayalam
നെൽസൺ
Conventional spelling
HISTORICAL VOTER RECORDS
Nelson in Indian usage
3,576 historical electoral-roll records, chiefly adults, rather than current baby-name rankings.
The available aggregate sex counts are withheld or incomplete.
By birth decade
| Birth decade | Records |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 405 |
| 1960s | 711 |
| 1970s | 898 |
| 1980s | 760 |
| 1990s | 579 |
| Other decades | 223 |
By state or territory
| State / territory | Records |
|---|---|
| Kerala | 2,526 |
| Goa | 362 |
| Meghalaya | 199 |
| Manipur | 123 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 104 |
| Other states | 262 |
How to read these numbers
Small counts and a second count where needed are withheld for privacy; an omitted value is not zero. Coverage, dates and suppression.
Recorded abroad
Official births registered in 2025, for the exact spelling shown.
| Jurisdiction | Spelling / recorded sex | Births | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| England & Wales | Nelson / M | 19 | 1,406 |
| Scotland | Nelson / M | 3 | 762 |
ONS and National Records of Scotland; Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3. Counts follow each office’s publication rules.
Explore related lists
Sources
- Given-name entry (Wikidata): Nelson ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Given-name spelling
- Historical Indian voter-record totals, v3 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Historical usage; CC0 1.0; birth years 1910–2001
- England & Wales 2025 birth statistics: Exact spelling Nelson; Table_6, C1453 ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Exact spelling Nelson; Table_6, C1453
- Scotland 2025 birth statistics: Exact spelling Nelson; full-list-1974-2025.csv; 2025 Boy ↗ (opens in a new tab)
Exact spelling Nelson; full-list-1974-2025.csv; 2025 Boy