Nery is a reespelling of Neri, attracted by some English names ending in -y, specially Nelly.
Neri is a nickname used for several names (Nerina, Nereida, Nerea...) and it is a name in itself, coming from Saint Philip Neri. The use of Neri in principle is masculine, but in some Spanish-speaking American countries it is used as unisex name (Argentina, e.g.), first in compound names (in the case of women) as María Neri, later as independent name. This independent use in women has been attracted by the spelling of Nelly (and in some dialects, as Cuban, Neri and Nelly can sound very similar or the same).
The devotion to St. Philip Neri, also because of the net of schools, is deep in some of these American countries.
There is another point for the popularity of Neri (Néri in Portuguese and sometimes the name is spelled Nery even in official records, as hospitals names): the first Brazilian nurse Ana Néri. She is the Brazilian (and some surrounding countries) equivalent of Florence Nightingale and she is very popular among Latin American women-rights fighters. The combination "Ana Neri", "Ana Néri" or "Ana Nery" seems to be more or less popular.
Lumia
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