Neil
A surname from the ancient Gaelic personal name Niall, often interpreted as “champion.”
The #3,496 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 30,186 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Neil comes from the old Gaelic personal name Niall, which is the source of Irish and Scottish surnames such as O'Neill and MacNeill. Older surname dictionaries commonly glossed Niall as meaning “champion,” though the deeper origin of the name is not fully certain. In English use, Neil is usually a shortened or anglicized surname form built from that personal name.
History
Historical surname dictionaries note Neil as a family name in the wider O'Neill/Neill name-group and also as a personal name known across northern Europe. In Britain, spellings such as Neil, Neill, Neale, Neild, and Neale were recorded, with Neil also appearing as the base for surnames like Neilson. The name spread into English-speaking areas through Irish and Scottish migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older surname books, Neil is one of the names used to illustrate how a Gaelic personal name could generate a whole cluster of related surnames, especially O'Neill and Neilson.
From the historical record
“ijigh ; gejbiir, husbandman, boor] NEIL NEILE NEILL NEILDJ ■(Celt.) Champion [Ir. and Gael. Niall] This name was borrowed by the Scandi-”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Neil
- Sam Neill (1947–2026)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.