Neri
Masculine · “my lamp”
Neri is given to both — 650 boys and 228 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Neri arrives from two directions and means something in both. In Hebrew it is a small phrase — ner is a lamp or a candle, and the ending makes it mine — so the name says my light. In Italian it is a surname, the plural of the word for black, and it belongs to one of the warmest figures in the history of the Roman church. Neither reading has priority; the record simply holds both.
How old is the name Neri?
Neri first appears in US birth records in 1952 — 73 years ago. The typical Neri alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 600 people named Neri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Neri most popular?
Neri peaked in 2007, reaching #1781 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 10,227 places below that high. See the whole 2007 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ner to Neri
The story of Neri
Philip Neri founded the Oratory in sixteenth-century Rome and is remembered less for doctrine than for temperament — he was famous for humor, for talking to people in the street, and for refusing the gravity expected of him. His surname became a given name in Italy on the strength of that affection. The Hebrew Neri traveled separately, through the scriptures and then through modern Israeli naming, which favors short bright words. In American records the name is recent, small and notably unsettled between girls and boys, which is what happens when a name arrives without a single tradition behind it.
Meaningscholars disagree
my lamp
The Hebrew reading is clean: ner, a lamp, with the first-person ending. A Neri appears in a genealogy in the Gospel of Luke, and the fuller Neriah is in Jeremiah. The Italian reading is equally solid but entirely different: Neri is the plural of nero, black, used as a family name and probably describing dark hair or complexion. A child called Neri may be carrying either.
How the name formed
- ner
- Neri
Related forms: Neri · Neri · Nery
Pronouncing Neri
NEH-ree
Two syllables, stress on the first, with a short first vowel. Italian and Hebrew agree on this closely enough that the name sounds the same in both. English speakers sometimes say NEER-ee, lengthening the first vowel, which is the only common slip.
Nicknames for Neri
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1952
- Most boys named
- 200782 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1781reached in 2007
- Change vs 2024
- −70.6%5 in 2025, from 17
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Neri in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Neri in Hebrew — transliteration
- Neri in Italian — same name
- Nery in Spanish — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Neris among us
people named Neri are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Neri
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Neri
- #12008
- Neri on the 2025 chart
- #898
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Neri went to 5 boys in 2025, but Nery is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 30, which makes it the 898th most-given boys’ name of the year — 11,110 places above the chart.
- Nery25
- Neri5
About 1 boy in 56,936 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 341,615 for Neri itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jemel test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Neri's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jemel climbed just as high around 1976, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jemel's path sketches the road Neri is walking now.
Neri sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Neri beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Neri in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and two open syllables — it is easy in any language and survives any accent.
- Both of its origins are documented, and each has something worth telling.
- It is genuinely used for girls and boys, so it does not fight a child of either sex.
- It sits well with long surnames, which short vowel-final names generally do.
- Nery, Nerie and Neriah all appear in American records and will be written instead.
- It leans toward girls without settling there, so forms and rosters will guess, and they will not always guess right.
- Neither of its two meanings can be given without mentioning the other, which makes for a longer answer than most people expect.
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What they receive
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Neri
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Neris are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Neri are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Neri?
- Neri is one of 2 recorded spellings. Nery is the more common one — 25 births in 2025 against 5 for Neri.
- How popular is the name Neri in 2025?
- Neri ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Neri?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Neri — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Neri with classmates?
- Neri will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Neri
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Garfield#12008 · Chas#12008 · Lew#12008 · Barney#12008 · Dewitt#12008 · Granville#12008 · Cicero#12008 · Willam#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Neri? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Neri and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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