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EntityQ5570878· pop 6· linked from 24 articles

Also known as Neil (given name), Neil (first name)

Neil is a masculine name of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion". Most authorities cite the meaning of Neil in the context of a surname as meaning "champion".

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Encyclopedic overview

7 sections
Contents
  • Origins
  • Variants
  • Notable people with the given name
  • People with the surname
  • Fictional characters
  • See also
  • References

Neil is a masculine name of Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion". Most authorities cite the meaning of Neil in the context of a surname as meaning "champion".

==Origins== The Gaelic name was adopted by the Vikings and taken to Iceland as Njáll (see Nigel). From Iceland it went via Norway, Denmark, and Normandy to England. The name also entered Northern England and Yorkshire directly from Ireland, and from Norwegian settlers. Neal or Neall is the Middle English form of Nigel.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Neil” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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