Neala vs Nealie
American parents have registered 793 Nealies since 1880, against 595 Nealas. But in 2025 it was Neala that was commoner, 8 babies to fewer than five.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Neala Nealie
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 116 years in which either name was published, Nealie for 71 years and Neala for 45 years. The lead changed hands 19 times.
15 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Neala | Nealie | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 595 | 793 |
| Most in one year | 38 | 22 |
| Babies in 2025 | 8 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 560 | 120 |
| Median age today | 15 | 55 |
| Peak year | 2009 | 1916 |
| Best rank | 4,013th girls | 1,630th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 10,917th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1938 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 595 / 0 | 776 / 17 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Nealies alive today are over 55; half the Nealas are over 15. That is 40 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Neala and Nealie.