Given name & surname
Nes
“headland, promontory”
Nes is a surname from Old Norse (ultimately Proto-Indo-European). It is used in Norwegian Bokmål.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Nes goes back to Old Norse nes, meaning “headland, promontory.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Nes comes from Old Norse, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Old Norse nes (“headland, promontory”), from Proto-Germanic *nasją (“headland, cape”), from Proto-Germanic *nasō (“nose”), from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s (“nose”); its root is Proto-Indo-European *néh₂s.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2024. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Nes through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5
- 5 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2024
- 5 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Nes’s family of names
In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Nes as a surname shares a linguistic root with the English form Ness. In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Nes as a surname has a related form in Næs. In Norwegian Bokmål usage, Nes as a surname has a related form in Ness.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Nes has relatives in 3 languages. Lines run from its Old Norse roots to each of them.
4 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
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