Nadira
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "rare" or "precious."
Name Census estimates that about 990 living Americans carry the first name Nadira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nadira today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nadira births was 2000 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nadira. 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 Nadira with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
990
~ 1 in 346,217 Americans
Peak year
2000
45 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,460
Tracked since 1972
Census
Nadira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,780 people with the first name Nadira, which placed it at #8,195 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
#8,195
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,780 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
33.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nadira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nadira is Black at 33.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.9%) and White (19.8%). 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 Nadira 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 Nadira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American33.9% · 603
- Asian and Pacific Islander32.9% · 585
- White19.8% · 352
- Two or more races7.1% · 127
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 103
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 10
Popularity
Nadira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nadira 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 306 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nadira 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 Nadira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nadiras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Nadira, while Virginia, California, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nadira
The name Nadira originates from the Arabic language and has its roots in the ancient Middle Eastern cultures. It derives from the Arabic word "nadir," which means "rare" or "precious." The name was likely first used during the medieval period in the Arab world.
Nadira has a rich history and has been mentioned in various literary works and texts throughout the ages. In the 10th century, it appeared in the famous collection of Arabic poetry known as the "Mu'allaqat," where it was used as a description for a beautiful and exceptional woman.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nadira is found in the 12th century with Nadira al-Andalusiyya, a renowned Andalusian poet and scholar from Islamic Spain. She was celebrated for her contributions to the literary and intellectual circles of her time.
Another notable figure bearing the name Nadira was Nadira Begum, a 16th-century Mughal princess and the daughter of the famous Mughal emperor Akbar. She was known for her intelligence, beauty, and patronage of the arts.
In the 19th century, Nadira Khanum was a prominent Persian poet and writer from the Qajar dynasty. Her works were widely acclaimed and contributed significantly to the literary landscape of her era.
During the 20th century, one of the most famous individuals named Nadira was Nadira, an Indian actress and dancer who graced the silver screen with her talent and charm. Born in 1932, she was a celebrated figure in the Hindi film industry and received numerous accolades for her performances.
These are just a few examples of the historical significance and instances of the name Nadira throughout various cultures and time periods. The name has consistently been associated with rarity, beauty, and exceptional qualities, making it a timeless and meaningful choice.
People
Nadira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nadira 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
Nadira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nadira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 990 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nadira 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 346,217 US residents.
Is Nadira a common name?
We classify Nadira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,020 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nadira most popular?
The single biggest year for Nadira was 2000, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nadira is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nadira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,780 people with the name Nadira, or 0.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,195 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 Nadira 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 Nadira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nadira appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,781 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Nadira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nadira is Black at 33.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (32.9%) and White (19.8%). 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 Nadira most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nadira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.9% (603 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 Nadira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nadira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nadira in the SSA data are female. 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 Nadira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nadira 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 Nadira 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 the name Nadira?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Nadira on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.