Nabeel
Noble, distinguished person; alternatively interpreted as a sublime spring.
Name Census estimates that about 1,133 living Americans carry the first name Nabeel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nabeel today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nabeel births was 1999 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nabeel. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Nabeel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 302,519 Americans
Peak year
1999
45 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,272
Tracked since 1970
Census
Nabeel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,987 people with the first name Nabeel, which placed it at #7,616 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#7,616
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,987 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
48.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nabeel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nabeel is Asian/Pacific Islander at 48.9%. The next largest groups are White (39.3%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Nabeel described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Nabeel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander48.9% · 971
- White39.3% · 781
- Two or more races5.3% · 105
- Black or African American5.0% · 99
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 7
Popularity
Nabeel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nabeel from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 314 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Nabeel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nabeel by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Nabeel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nabeels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Nabeel, while New Jersey, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nabeel
The name Nabeel has its origins in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "nabala," which means "to be noble" or "to be of high lineage." The name first appeared during the early Islamic period, around the 7th century AD.
In Arabic, the name Nabeel is considered a masculine name and is often associated with qualities such as nobility, honor, and dignity. It has been a popular name among Arab communities for centuries, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nabeel can be found in the writings of Arab scholars and poets from the 8th and 9th centuries. It is mentioned in historical records and literature from that time period, indicating its widespread use among the Arab nobility.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Nabeel. One of the most famous was Nabeel al-Qurtubi (1007-1072 AD), a renowned Islamic scholar and jurist from Cordoba, Spain. He made significant contributions to the study of Hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad) and Islamic jurisprudence.
Another notable figure was Nabeel ibn al-Muqaffa (720-785 AD), a Persian writer and translator who played a crucial role in the spread of Persian literature and culture in the Arabic-speaking world. He is best known for his translation of the Persian book "Kalila wa Dimna" into Arabic, which became a beloved work of literature in the Islamic world.
In the realm of science, Nabeel al-Kindi (801-873 AD) was a prominent Arab philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who made significant contributions to the fields of optics, physics, and mathematics. He is often regarded as one of the pioneers of the scientific method in the Islamic world.
Nabeel al-Jaafi (1142-1225 AD) was a renowned Arab poet and literary scholar from Yemen. He is known for his mastery of Arabic poetry and his works, which have been widely studied and celebrated in the Arab world.
Nabeel al-Arabi (1165-1240 AD), also known as Ibn Arabi, was a highly influential Sufi mystic and philosopher from Spain. His writings on Sufism and mystical experiences have had a lasting impact on Islamic spiritual traditions.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Nabeel, reflecting its longstanding cultural significance and the diverse contributions made by those who carried this name.
People
Nabeel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nabeel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nabeel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nabeel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,133 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nabeel going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 302,519 US residents.
Is Nabeel a common name?
We classify Nabeel as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,156 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nabeel most popular?
The single biggest year for Nabeel was 1999, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nabeel is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nabeel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,987 people with the name Nabeel, or 0.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,616 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Nabeel in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Nabeel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nabeel appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,986 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Nabeel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nabeel is Asian/Pacific Islander at 48.9%. The next largest groups are White (39.3%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Nabeel most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nabeel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.9% (971 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Nabeel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nabeel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nabeel in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Nabeel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nabeel in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Nabeel can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Nabeel as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Nabeel, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.