Nigel Pass

Nigel ( ) is an English masculine given name.

The English ''Nigel'' is commonly found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walter Scott published '' The Fortunes of Nigel'' in 1822, and Arthur Conan Doyle published ''Sir Nigel'' in 1905–06. As a name given for boys in England and Wales, it peaked in popularity from the 1950s to the 1970s (see below).

''Nigel'' has never been as common in other countries as it is in Britain, but was among the 1,000 most common names for boys born in the United States from 1971 to 2010. Numbers peaked in 1994 when 447 were recorded (it was the 478th most common boys' name that year). The peak popularity at 0.02% of boys' names in 1994 compares to a peak popularity in England and Wales of about 1.2% in 1963, 60 times higher.

Etymology

The name is derived from the church Latin '. This Latin word would at first sight seem to derive from the classical Latin ''nigellus'' (meaning dark or somewhat black), which is derived from ', meaning "black". However, this is now considered an example of an incorrect etymology created by French-speaking clerics, who knew Latin as well, to translate the Norman first name ''Neel'' in the Latin written documents. The Latin word ' gave birth to Old French ' (modern '), meaning “ niello, black enamel” and it explains the confusion, because the clerics believed it was the same etymology as the first name ''Neel'', spelled the same way.

Ultimately Nigel, via medieval Latin ''Nigellus'' and subsequently Norman ''Neel'' (modern surname ''Néel''), is derived from the Norse ''Njáll''. The Norse ''Njáll'', in turn, is derived from the Gaelic given name '' Niall''.

England and Wales

The following table shows the number of boys given the first name Nigel in specific years in England and Wales. Numbers peaked in about 1963. In 1964 it was the 23rd most popular boys' name. By 2016 the number of boys named Nigel had dropped below 3, the minimum number reported by the ONS.

Medieval figures

* (Néel de Saint-Sauveur), Norman baron at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte in Cotentin
* Nigel D'Oyly (Néel d'Ouilly), Anglo-Norman lord
* Nigel d'Aubigny (Néel d'Aubigny), Norman nobleman
* Nigel (bishop of Ely) (Néel d'Ely), Anglo-Norman bishop
* Nigel de Longchamps, 12th-century English poet

Notable people named Nigel

* Nigel Ah Wong (born 1990), New Zealand rugby player
* Nigel Ayers (born 1957), English multimedia artist
* Nigel Barker (photographer) (born 1972), English fashion photographer
* Nigel Benn (born 1964), British boxer
* Nigel Bennett (born 1949), Anglo-Canadian actor, director, and writer
*Nigel Benson (born 1955), British writer and illustrator
* Nigel Blackwell, English lead singer and guitarist of Half Man Half Biscuit
* Nigel Bond (born 1965), British snooker player
*Nigel Bonner (1928-1994), British zoologist and Antarctic marine mammal specialist
* Nigel Bruce (1895–1953), British actor
* Nigel Clough (born 1966), British footballer
*Nigel Cullen (1917–1941), Australian fighter ace of World War II
* Nigel Cumberland, British author
* Nigel Dakin (born 1964), Soldier, Diplomat and Governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands
* Nigel Davenport (1928–2013), English actor
* Nigel Dick (born 1953), English director, writer, and musician
* Nigel Dodds (born 1958), British/Northern Irish politician, MP (DUP)
*Nigel Edwards (disambiguation)
* Nigel Evans (born 1957), British politician
* Nigel Farage (born 1964), British politician, MEP (Brexit Party)
* Nigel Fountain (born 1944), British writer, journalist, editor and broadcaster
* Nigel Glockler (born 1953), English drummer of the heavy metal band Saxon
* Nigel Godrich (born 1971), English recording engineer and record producer
* Nigel Green (1924–1972), British actor
*Nigel Gresley (1876–1941), British steam locomotive engineer
*Nigel Harris (disambiguation), multiple people
* Nigel Harte, Westmeath Gaelic footballer
* Nigel Havers (born 1951), English actor
* Nigel Hawthorne (1929–2001), English actor
* Nigel Hayes (born 1994), American basketball player
* Nigel Haywood (born 1955), Governor of the Falkland Islands
* Nigel Hess (born 1953), British composer
*Nigel Horspool, British-born inventor of the Boyer–Moore–Horspool algorithm
*Nigel Holmes (born 1942), British graphic designer
* Nigel Irens, British yacht designer
* Nigel de Jong (born 1984), Dutch footballer
* Nigel Keay (born 1955), New Zealand violist and composer
* Nigel Kennedy (born 1956), British violinist and violist
* Nigel Kneale (1922–2006), British scriptwriter
* Nigel Latta (born 1967), New Zealand psychologist
* Nigel Lawson (born 1932), British politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer
* Nigel Lythgoe (born 1949), English television, film director and producer
*Nigel Mansell (born 1953), British racing car driver
* Nigel Martyn (born 1966), British football goalkeeper
* Nigel Marven (born 1960), British wildlife television presenter/producer, author, and hobby ornithologist
* Nigel McGuinness (born 1976), British wrestler
* Nigel Melville (born 1961), English rugby player, coach, and administrator
* Nigel Miguel (born 1963), Belizean-American actor, film producer, film commissioner, basketball player
* Nigel Mitchell, British television presenter and radio presenter
*Nigel Morris (born 1958), British businessman and co-founder of Capital One
* Nigel Murch (1944–2020), Australian cricketer
* Nigel Ng (born 1991), Malaysian stand-up comedian
*Nigel Northridge (born 1956), British businessman
* Nigel Oakes (born 1962), British businessman
* Nigel Olsson (born 1949), drummer for Elton John, solo recording artist
* Nigel Owens (born 1971), Welsh rugby referee
* Nigel Pivaro (born 1959), English actor, he played as Terry Duckworth in ''Coronation Street''
* Nigel Planer (born 1953), English actor
* Nigel Plum, Australian rugby player
*Nigel Poor, American podcaster
* Nigel Reo-Coker (born 1984), English footballer
* Nigel Richards (born 1967), five times World Scrabble Champion
* Nigel Rodgers (born 1952), British author
*Nigel Roberts, British computer scientist
* Nigel Short (born 1965), English chess player
* Nigel Slater (born 1958), English food writer and broadcaster
* Nigel Smart (born 1969), Australian footballer
* Nigel Stock (actor) (1919–1986), English actor who played Dr Watson
*Nigel John Taylor (born 1960), bass player of Duran Duran
* Nigel Vardy, British mountaineer
* Nigel Warburton, British philosopher
*Nigel Watson (1947–2019), British blues-rock guitarist
*Nigel Williams-Goss (born 1994), American basketball player
* Nigel Winterburn (born 1963), English footballer
*Nigel Worthington (born 1961), Northern Irish footballer and manager

Fictional characters

* Nigel, a character in 1989 American independent coming of age comedy movie '' She's Out of Control''
* Nigel Bathgate, a journalist, in the detective novel, '' A Man Lay Dead'' (1934) by Dame Ngaio Marsh
* Nigel Bottom, a poet and playwright in '' Something Rotten!''
* Nigel Cronin, a character from 1991 black comedy movie '' Drop Dead Fred''
* Nigel Olifaunt, Lord Glenvarloch, main character of Sir Walter Scott's novel '' The Fortunes of Nigel''
* ''Sir Nigel'' (Loring), a novel by Arthur Conan Doyle based on the life of Neil Loring
* Nigel Pargetter, a character on the BBC radio soap opera '' The Archers''
* Nigel Baker, a character in '' Cheaper by the Dozen'' and its sequel
* Nigel Forrester, a character from '' Bratz Rock Angelz'' with whom Cloe falls in love
* " Making Plans for Nigel", 1979 New Wave hit for English group XTC
* Nigel Powers (played by actor Michael Caine) is a character who appears in the third Austin Powers movie, '' Austin Powers in Goldmember'', as the father of Austin Powers and Dr. Evil
* Principal Nigel Brown, a character on '' The Amazing World of Gumball''
* Nigel Molesworth, schoolboy in 1950s humour books by Geoffrey Willans and Ronald Searle
* Nigel Moon, one of the many brothers of the character Daphne Moon in the TV series '' Frasier''
* Nigel, a brown pelican and character in the 2003 Disney/ Pixar animated film ''Finding Nemo''
* Nigel, a British koala in 2006 Disney animated film '' The Wild''
* Nigel, the gangster ex-husband in Fredrik Bond's '' Charlie Countryman''
* Nigel "Nidge" Delaney, fictional character played by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor in RTE crime drama TV series '' Love/Hate''
* Sir Nigel Irvine, SIS chief in Frederick Forsyth's spy fiction ''The Fourth Protocol''
* Nigel, a sadistic sulphur-crested cockatoo who is the main antagonist in the '' Rio'' franchise
* Nigel Burke, the main character in '' Surgeon Simulator 2013''
* Nigel, nickname given by the community to the British pilot model in War Thunder''
* Nigel Bumble, a fictional character who join The Rooks in '' Assassin's Creed Syndicate
* Nigel, an agoraphobic sheep dog in the New Zealand film '' The Price of Milk'' (2000)
* Nigel, played by Hugh Grant, in the movie ''Bitter Moon'' (1992)
* Sir Nigel Thornberry, fictional wildlife documentary producer from ''The Wild Thornberrys''
* Nigel Tufnel, lead guitarist for the fictional band Spinal Tap
* Nigel Ratburn, an anthropomorphic rat and elementary school teacher, in the '' Arthur'' TV series
* Nigel Planter, a character from '' The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy''
* Nigel Uno, a fictional character from '' Codename: Kids Next Door''
* Nigel Wolpert, a Gryffindor wizard from Harry Potter

Dog

* Nigel, a Golden Retriever dog that belonged to Monty Don, a British television gardening presenter.

References

{{Reflist

Given names
English given names
English masculine given names
Slang
Pejorative terms for European people