Nelli
From Hebrew, carrying the sense of bright, shining light. Fewer than 700 women in Poland go by it and it's given rarely now, so most Poles have never met one.
Nelli Pronunciation
Nelli is pronounced NEL-lee (/ˈnɛlli/).
What Nelli means
Where Nelli comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Nelli comes from Hebrew, and the short meaning that has fastened to it is bright, shining light. Light is an old thing to want for a child. The name itself is brief, two clean syllables, easy to say.
On a Polish class register Nelli reads without effort, sitting short beside the longer surnames around it. The double L marks the spelling, and it is the detail a clerk at the urząd copies out with care so the form matches. A child learns to answer to it fast.
What Hebrew handed down is the idea of shining, and that sense is the whole of what the name reports about its bearer. Nelli means bright, shining light.
How many people are named Nelli
1 in 35727 women in Poland is named Nelli. 631 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1187 among female names.
Nelli's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been climbing since 2025.
Where Nelli is most popular
Nelli is most popular in Pomeranian, 1367% above the national average (2 girls born 2019–2025).
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Pomeranian2 girls born+1367%
Nelli as a middle name
Nelli is a first name for 631 women in Poland and a middle name for another 27, a 96/4 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 1381st, between Nelia (27) and Pascale (27).
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#1379 Mona27
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#1380 Nelia27
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#1381 Nelli27
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#1382 Pascale27
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#1383 Priscilla27