Cornelius
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Cornelius
Cornelius, the New Testament name of a third century Pope and saint, is one of those venerable Latin names on the edge of consideration, despite the corny nickname alert.
Cornelius has some magical vibe via Cornelius Agrippa, a medieval alchemist who appears in scores of books, including Frankenstein and Harry Potter. In Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, Cornelius was one of the two magicians who help Faustus strike his bargain with the devil. Two characters of the name appear in Shakespeare's plays—Hamlet and Cymbeline. The most famous bearer of the name is probably railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who gave the appellation an aristocratic air. Cornelius is also the birth name of Chevy Chase.
Cornelius was consistently in the top 1000 through 2008; it was a Top 300 name through 1932.
And if you're put off by the short form Corny, you could consider Neely, the nickname of the young Cornelius in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
Cornelius is also given to girls.
Pronounced kor-NEEL-yus.
As of October 2026, Cornelius ranked #1908 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #130 in 1882, Nameberry popularity #784.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · boys | Births · boys | US rank · girls | Births · girls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,208 | 152 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #1,200 | 154 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #1,236 | 151 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #1,545 | 106 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #1,706 | 92 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #1,565 | 107 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #1,513 | 111 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #1,816 | 86 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #1,761 | 94 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #1,898 | 83 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #2,150 | 68 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #1,908 | 82 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Cornelius for boys
Similar names
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Cornelius on lists
Famous Corneliuss
- Saint Cornelius the CenturionBoy
first Gentile to convert to Christianity
- Saint CorneliusBoy
Archbishop of Armagh
- Cornelius VanderbiltBoy
American industrialist
- Cornelius Crane "Chevy" ChaseBoy
American actor/comedian
- Cornelius Harvey McGillicuddy IBoy
IV aka Connie Mack, American baseball players and politicians
- Cornelius NeposBoy
ancient Roman biographer
- Cornelius CastoriadisBoy
Greek,French philosopher
- Cornelius IngramBoy
American football player
- Cornelius CowardBoy
English cricketer
- Cornelius Packard "Dusty" RhoadsBoy
American pathologist and oncologist
- Cornelius "Neil" CaseyBoy
Irish,American footballer
- Christopher Cornelius "Kit" CulkinBoy
American actor and father of Macaulay Culkin
- Cornelius Elven (1797Boy
1873), hymnist
- Anton Cornelius "Neels" VisserBoy
instagram star
Cornelius in pop culture
- Yukon CorneliusBoy
character in animated special "Rudolph, the Red,Nosed Reindeer"
- Cornelius "Cory" MatthewsBoy
main character on TV's "Boy Meets World"
- Cornelius HickeyBoy
character in book and TV series "The Terror"
- Kornelius "Kojo" JonesworthBoy
character on TV's Zeke and Luther"
- Cornelius FudgeBoy
former Minister of Magic from "Harry Potter" series
- CorneliusBoy
the fairy prince in the 1994 animated film "Thumbelina"
- Publius Cornelius DolabellaBoy
character in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra"
- Cornelius "Neeley" NolanBoy
character in Betty Smith's novel "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"
- CorneliusBoy
the narrator in Chuck Palahniuk's novel "Fight Club"
- CorneliusBoy
character in the Planet of the Apes film series
- CorneliusBoy
an old elephant counsellor, from the Babar the Elephant series
- Cornelius CootBoy
character in the Scrooge McDuck universe
- Cornelius FillmoreBoy
character in the animated series Fillmore!
- Gibby Cornelius GibsonBoy
character on TV's iCarly
- Cornelius HacklBoy
character in The Matchmaker and musical Hello, Dolly!
- Lewis "Cornelius" RobinsonBoy
character in Disney's "Meet the Robinsons"
- Cornelius StirkBoy
character in DC Comics
- Cornelius AusterlinBoy
the stepdad in Lene Kaaberbøl's Katriona series