Nairobi
Of Masai origin, meaning "cool water" or "stream of cold water".
Name Census estimates that about 1,475 living Americans carry the first name Nairobi. It is a predominantly female name (97.7% of registrations). The average person named Nairobi today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nairobi births was 2021 (242 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nairobi. 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 Nairobi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Nairobi is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 232,376 Americans
Peak year
2021
242 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2023 SSA rank
#1,535
Tracked since 1971
Census
Nairobi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 676 people with the first name Nairobi, which placed it at #16,618 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
#16,618
National first-name rank
People counted
676
676 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
52.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nairobi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nairobi is Hispanic at 52.1%. The next largest groups are Black (42.3%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Nairobi 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 Nairobi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino52.1% · 352
- Black or African American42.3% · 286
- Two or more races3.0% · 20
- White2.1% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Nairobi
Nairobi leans heavily female at 97.7% of total registrations, but 35 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Nairobi as a male name
- Ranked #13,541 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1999 (9 births)
Nairobi as a female name
- Ranked #1,535 in 2024
- 139 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (242 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nairobi leans strongly female. 572 people counted with this name were female (85.0%), compared with 101 male bearers (15.0%).
Popularity
Nairobi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nairobi from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,006 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
Nairobi 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 Nairobi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nairobis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Nairobi, while Tennessee, Massachusetts, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nairobi
Nairobi is a name derived from the Maasai phrase "Enkare Nairobi," which translates to "cool water." It is the name of the capital city of Kenya and has its origins in the region's indigenous Maasai language and culture.
The name "Nairobi" first appeared in written records during the late 19th century, when British colonists established a settlement near the Nairobi River. The site was chosen due to its proximity to the cool, fresh water source, which was a rarity in the area's arid environment.
While the name itself does not have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it holds significant cultural importance for the Maasai people, who have inhabited the region for centuries. The Maasai were pastoralists who relied heavily on water sources for their livestock, making the "cool water" of Nairobi a valuable and revered resource.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Nairobi was Nairobi Kuria, a Maasai warrior who lived in the late 19th century and played a crucial role in negotiating with the British colonists during the establishment of the settlement that would eventually become the city of Nairobi.
Another notable figure with the name Nairobi was Nairobi Mara, a Maasai leader and elder who was instrumental in preserving the traditional customs and knowledge of his people in the face of colonization and modernization. He lived from approximately 1880 to 1965.
In more recent history, Nairobi Gatheru (1920-2010) was a Kenyan politician and activist who fought for the country's independence from British rule. She was a prominent figure in the Mau Mau uprising and played a significant role in shaping Kenya's post-colonial political landscape.
Nairobi Muthoni (born 1985) is a contemporary Kenyan musician and songwriter who has gained international recognition for her fusion of traditional Maasai rhythms and melodies with modern genres like hip-hop and R&B.
Nairobi Kamau (born 1992) is a Kenyan-born American actress and model who has appeared in various television shows and films, including the popular series "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever."
While the name Nairobi has gained global recognition due to the city's prominence, it remains deeply rooted in the Maasai culture and language, serving as a testament to the enduring legacy of the region's indigenous people.
People
Nairobi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nairobi 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
Nairobi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nairobi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,475 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nairobi 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 232,376 US residents.
Is Nairobi a common name?
We classify Nairobi as "Rare". It ranks above 92.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,490 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nairobi most popular?
The single biggest year for Nairobi was 2021, when 242 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nairobi is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nairobi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 676 people with the name Nairobi, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,618 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 Nairobi 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 Nairobi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nairobi leans strongly female. 572 people counted with this name were female (85.0%), compared with 101 male bearers (15.0%). 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 Nairobi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nairobi is Hispanic at 52.1%. The next largest groups are Black (42.3%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Nairobi most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nairobi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.1% (352 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 Nairobi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nairobi a female name?
Yes, 97.7% of people registered as Nairobi 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 Nairobi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nairobi 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 Nairobi 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 are called Nairobi?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.