Nigel is a boy's name of English origin and is another form of the name Neil, which is more commonly used. The origin of the name is unusual, as it comes from the form medieval scribes writing in Latin used to "translate" Neil, and the "g" in the name comes from wrongly associating it with the Latin word niger, "black". Nigel only began to be used as a separate name from Neil in the 19th century (Hanks and Hodges, 1990.