Always the top spelling of the name; Neil peaked in the 1950s, but then enjoyed a second coming following the fame of such Neils as astronaut Armstrong and singers Sedaka, Diamond, and Young. Now semiretired.

Niall is pronounced nye-al--something like Neil, but this Irish spelling of the name makes it much more current and cool.

Nimbus is a word from nature for a type of cloud that has occasionally -- very occasionally -- been used for a human. But it's evocative and upbeat and certainly makes an intriguing and stylish nature name.

Always the less common spelling of Irish classic Neil, Neal has been on a fifty-year slide, and now doesn't even make the Top 1000. It has a streamlined, surnamey appeal in this spelling.

Little-known name from the Old Testament.

One of the boys' names that sounds fresher today for a girl. Second-best-spelling for boys, Neal, may work even better for girls.

Female form of Neal, now more popular in Ireland than its male counterpart.

An Irish classic for boys that has a streamlined, surnamey, unisex appeal in this spelling.

While Niall -- pronounced as Neil or like the river Nile -- is conventionally a boys' name, it might theoretically work for girls.

Better to stick with the Neil spelling in the US, where the word "nil" also means "zero." But this is a Top Ten name in Catalonia.

Nimbus is a new nature name that works for either gender and manages to be both familiar and unique. An evocative and daring nature name for the future.