Nelson is an English, Scottish, Irish, Northern Irish, Scots-Irish, and Scandinavian surname. It is a patronymic name derived from Nell. The name is also listed as a baptismal name "the son of Eleanor". [1] The name was popularised by Admiral Horatio Nelson as a given name.
Nelson is also an anglicized version of the Scandinavian names Nilsen, Nielsen, and Nilsson. In the United States in 1990, it was ranked as the 39th-most common surname. [2]