Nelly

Variation of Nellie and Nell

"light"

Nelly Origin and Meaning

The name Nelly is a girl's name of English origin meaning "light".

Nelly or Nellie is an adorable nickname name that can be short for a wide range of more formal appellations or that can stand on its own, and is typical of the vintage nickname genre that is growing in popularity. While Nelly can be used for several different names, from Helen to Eleanor to Cornelia, it has stood on its own for more than a century. It was one of the most popular names – spelled as Nellie – in the U.S. at the end of the 1800s.

The musician known as DJ Fatboy Slim named his little girl Nelly.

Nelly Rank in US Top 1000

# 940 in the US

Nelly Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 1604 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Nelly

• 1604 Nameberry 2025
• 508 Unique 2023
• 313 England 2023
• 211 Germany 2016

20 Names Similar to Nelly

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Nelly.

• Marcy
• Mattie
• Janie
• Laurie
• Caddie
• Lee
• Mollie
• Maebelle
• Delancey
• Jossie
• Suzette
• Suzie
• Lindy
• Sukie
• Francie
• Cady
• Em
• Janne
• Ronnie
• Renée

Famous People Named Nelly

• Nelly Kim Furtado Canadian singer,songwriter
• Nelly Artin Kalfayan Egyptian singer, actress and comedienne
• Nelly Arcan (born Isabelle Fortier) Canadian novelist
• Leonie "Nelly" Sachs German poet and playwright
• Nelly Adamson Landry Belgian tennis player
• Nelly Olin French politician
• Ellen Lawless "Nelly" Ternan English actress; mistress of writer Charles Dickens
• Nelly Thüring Swedish politician
• Nelly Viennot French football referee
• Nelly Wicky Swiss politician
• Nelly Anna "Nel" Benschop Dutch poet
• Penelope Scotland "Nelly" Disick daughter of reality TV personalities Scott Disick and Kourtney Kardashian
• Nelly May Lois Cook (b. 2010) daughter of DJ Fatboy Slim and TV personality Zoe Ball

The name Nelly in Pop Culture

• Ellen "Nelly" Dean main narrator in Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights"
• Nelly Welch character in G. A. Henty's "True to the Old Flag"
• Nelly character in "The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod" by Heather Brewer
• Nelly Yuki character on TV's "Gossip Girl"
• Nelly Hardy character in G. A. Henty's "Facing Death"