Naja
An Urdu name meaning "serpent" or "cobra".
Name Census estimates that about 1,239 living Americans carry the first name Naja. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Naja today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Naja births was 1998 (150 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Naja. 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 Naja with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 276,638 Americans
Peak year
1998
150 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2005 SSA rank
#11,051
Tracked since 1964
Census
Naja in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,243 people with the first name Naja, which placed it at #10,626 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
#10,626
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,243 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
74.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Naja
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naja is Black at 74.8%. The next largest groups are White (11.4%) and Hispanic (5.9%). 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 Naja 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 Naja at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American74.8% · 930
- White11.4% · 142
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 73
- Two or more races4.8% · 60
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Naja
Out of the 1,281 babies given the name Naja since 1880, 99.5% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Naja as a male name
- Ranked #11,051 in 2005
- 6 male births in 2005
- Peak: 2005 (6 births)
Naja as a female name
- Ranked #13,052 in 2023
- 7 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1998 (150 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Naja leans strongly female. 1,175 people counted with this name were female (94.8%), compared with 65 male bearers (5.2%).
Popularity
Naja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Naja from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 482 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Naja 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 Naja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Najas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, California recorded the most babies named Naja, while Mississippi, Louisiana, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Naja
The given name Naja originates from Sanskrit, the ancient Indo-Aryan language that served as the root of many modern Indian languages. It can be traced back to the Sanskrit word "naga," which means "serpent" or "snake." The name likely gained popularity in India during the ancient Vedic period, when snakes were revered as symbols of fertility, rebirth, and divine power.
In Hindu mythology, the Nagas were a race of serpent-like beings often depicted as half-human, half-snake. They were associated with various deities, including Shiva and Vishnu, and played significant roles in numerous myths and legends. The name Naja may have been inspired by these mythological figures, reflecting a connection to the natural world and spiritual realms.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Naja appears in the ancient Indian epic poem, the Mahabharata. In this epic, a character named Naja is mentioned as a skilled warrior and archer. This reference suggests that the name was in use during the time when the Mahabharata was composed, which is estimated to be around the 8th or 9th century BCE.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Naja. One of the earliest was Naja, a Sogdian princess who lived in the 7th century CE. She was the daughter of the Sogdian ruler Khusrau and was married to the Tang Dynasty Emperor Gaozong of China.
Another prominent figure was Naja al-Baghdadiyya, a 9th-century Arab mathematician and astronomer from Baghdad. She made significant contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the areas of algebra and geometry.
In the 16th century, Naja Quli Mirza was a prominent Persian nobleman and military commander who served under the Safavid dynasty. He played a crucial role in the military campaigns of Shah Ismail I and was known for his bravery and strategic skills.
Naja Krispin, born in 1651 in Sweden, was a notable artist and engraver. She was one of the few female artists of her time and is known for her intricate engravings and etchings depicting religious and historical scenes.
In more recent times, Naja Marie Aidt, born in 1963, is a Danish poet and author. She has received numerous literary awards and is renowned for her powerful and evocative poetry, which often explores themes of love, loss, and the human condition.
People
Naja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Naja 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
Naja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Naja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,239 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Naja 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 276,638 US residents.
Is Naja a common name?
We classify Naja as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,281 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Naja most popular?
The single biggest year for Naja was 1998, when 150 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Naja is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Naja in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,243 people with the name Naja, or 0.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,626 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 Naja 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 Naja?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Naja leans strongly female. 1,175 people counted with this name were female (94.8%), compared with 65 male bearers (5.2%). 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 Naja?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naja is Black at 74.8%. The next largest groups are White (11.4%) and Hispanic (5.9%). 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 Naja most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Naja in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.8% (930 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 Naja in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Naja a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Naja 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 Naja still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Naja 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 Naja 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 named Naja?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.