Naira
A feminine name of Russian origin meaning "supreme ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 836 living Americans carry the first name Naira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Naira today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Naira births was 2019 (75 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Naira. 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 Naira with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
836
~ 1 in 409,993 Americans
Peak year
2019
75 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,515
Tracked since 1981
Census
Naira in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,377 people with the first name Naira, which placed it at #9,883 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
#9,883
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,377 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Naira
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naira is White at 54.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.3%). 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 Naira 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 Naira at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.8% · 754
- Hispanic or Latino18.8% · 259
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.3% · 252
- Black or African American5.5% · 76
- Two or more races2.5% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Naira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Naira from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 366 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
Naira 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 Naira during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nairas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Naira, while Ohio, Florida, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Naira
The name Naira has its origins in the Armenian language, and it is believed to have emerged during the medieval period in the region of historic Armenia. The name is derived from the Armenian word "nairi," which means "river valley" or "source of the river." This suggests that the name may have been associated with individuals who lived near rivers or in fertile river valleys.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Naira can be found in the medieval Armenian epic poem "Daredevils of Sassoun," which dates back to the 8th or 9th century. In this literary work, Naira is mentioned as the name of a female character, indicating that the name has been in use for several centuries.
Throughout history, there have been notable individuals who bore the name Naira. One of the most famous was Naira Stepanyan, an Armenian actress who lived from 1913 to 1996. She was renowned for her performances in both theater and film, and she is considered a pioneering figure in Armenian cinema.
Another notable figure was Naira Arshakyan, an Armenian writer and poet who lived from 1921 to 1985. Her works explored themes of love, nature, and the human experience, and she is widely regarded as one of the most influential voices in 20th-century Armenian literature.
In the field of music, Naira Asatrian was a renowned Armenian soprano who lived from 1927 to 2012. She performed in operas and concerts around the world, and her powerful voice and captivating stage presence earned her critical acclaim and numerous awards.
Naira Gevorgyan was an Armenian chess player who lived from 1968 to 2018. She was a Woman Grandmaster and a multiple-time Armenian Chess Champion, known for her strategic brilliance and tenacity on the chessboard.
Lastly, Naira Martirosyan was an Armenian artist and sculptor who lived from 1928 to 2010. Her works, which often depicted themes of motherhood and family, are celebrated for their emotional depth and technical mastery, and she is regarded as one of the most influential sculptors of her generation in Armenia.
People
Naira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Naira 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
Naira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Naira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 836 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Naira 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 409,993 US residents.
Is Naira a common name?
We classify Naira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 844 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Naira most popular?
The single biggest year for Naira was 2019, when 75 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Naira is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Naira in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,377 people with the name Naira, or 0.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,883 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 Naira 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 Naira?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Naira appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,380 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Naira?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naira is White at 54.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.3%). 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 Naira most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Naira in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.8% (754 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 Naira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Naira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Naira 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 Naira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Naira 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 Naira 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 Naira?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Naira, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.