Nahim
A Persian masculine name meaning "one who establishes peace."
Name Census estimates that about 113 living Americans carry the first name Nahim. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nahim today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nahim births was 2024 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nahim. 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 Nahim with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
113
~ 1 in 3,033,224 Americans
Peak year
2024
20 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,974
Tracked since 1998
Census
Nahim in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 167 people with the first name Nahim, which placed it at #42,759 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
#42,759
National first-name rank
People counted
167
167 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
50.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nahim
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nahim is Hispanic at 50.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.8%) and Black (17.4%). 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 Nahim 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 Nahim at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino50.9% · 85
- Asian and Pacific Islander19.8% · 33
- Black or African American17.4% · 29
- White7.8% · 13
- Two or more races4.2% · 7
Popularity
Nahim: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nahim from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 54 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nahim 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 Nahim during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nahims live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nahim
The given name Nahim is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture. The name is derived from the Arabic root word "naham," which means "gifted" or "blessed." It is thought to have first emerged in the Middle East region during the 7th century CE, around the time of the Islamic Golden Age.
Nahim is closely related to other Arabic names such as Naim, Naeem, and Naheem, which share similar meanings and linguistic roots. The name has been used predominantly in Arabic-speaking countries, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nahim is found in the writings of the famous Arab poet and scholar Al-Mutanabbi, who lived from 915 to 965 CE. In his poetry, Al-Mutanabbi made reference to a person named Nahim, suggesting that the name was in use during that era.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nahim. One such figure was Nahim Ibn al-Muqri, a renowned Islamic scholar and philosopher who lived in the 10th century CE in what is now modern-day Iran. He was known for his contributions to the fields of theology and jurisprudence.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Nahim al-Ghazali, an influential Sufi mystic and theologian who lived in the 11th and 12th centuries CE. He is regarded as one of the most influential thinkers in the history of Islamic philosophy and is often referred to as the "Reviver of Religion."
In the realm of literature, Nahim al-Arabi was a notable Arab poet and writer who flourished in the 12th century CE. He was renowned for his poetic works, which addressed themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition.
During the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and Syria, which lasted from the 13th to the 16th century CE, there was a prominent military commander named Nahim al-Din al-Ghuri. He played a significant role in the battles against the Crusaders and is remembered for his military prowess and leadership.
In more recent times, one of the most famous individuals with the name Nahim was Nahim Bey, a 19th-century Ottoman statesman and diplomat. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Ottoman Empire and played a crucial role in international relations during his tenure.
People
Nahim + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nahim 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
Nahim: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nahim?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 113 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nahim 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 3,033,224 US residents.
Is Nahim a common name?
We classify Nahim as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 114 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nahim most popular?
The single biggest year for Nahim was 2024, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nahim is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nahim in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 167 people with the name Nahim, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,759 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 Nahim 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 Nahim?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nahim leans strongly male. 158 people counted with this name were male (93.5%), compared with 11 female bearers (6.5%). 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 Nahim?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nahim is Hispanic at 50.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (19.8%) and Black (17.4%). 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 Nahim most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nahim in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.9% (85 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 Nahim in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nahim a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nahim 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 Nahim still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nahim 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 Nahim 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 Nahim as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Nahim on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.