Naje
A feminine Arabic name meaning "successful", "saved", or "winner".
Name Census estimates that about 145 living Americans carry the first name Naje. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 75.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Naje today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Naje births was 1997 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Naje. 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.
People living today
145
~ 1 in 2,363,823 Americans
Peak year
1997
20 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,724
Tracked since 1993
Census
Naje in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 198 people with the first name Naje, which placed it at #38,638 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
#38,638
National first-name rank
People counted
198
198 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Naje
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naje is Black at 79.8%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Naje 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 Naje at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.8% · 158
- White8.1% · 16
- Two or more races6.1% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Naje
Naje is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 148 total registrations, 37 (25.0%) were male and 111 (75.0%) were female.
Naje as a male name
- Ranked #13,724 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2004 (7 births)
Naje as a female name
- Ranked #18,344 in 2005
- 5 female births in 2005
- Peak: 1996 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Naje on both sides of the split. Of the 200 people counted with this name, 89 were male (44.5%) and 111 were female (55.5%).
Popularity
Naje: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Naje from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 89 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
Naje 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 Naje during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Najes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Naje
The name Naje has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, dating back to the 7th century AD. Derived from the Arabic word "naj," which means "to be safe" or "to escape," the name Naje was initially bestowed upon individuals as a symbolic wish for safety and protection.
During the golden age of Islamic civilization, the name Naje appeared in various literary works and historical records. One notable reference can be found in the famous collection of stories known as "One Thousand and One Nights," where a character named Naje is mentioned as a wise and resourceful individual.
The earliest recorded use of the name Naje can be traced back to the 8th century AD, when a prominent Islamic scholar and jurist, Naje ibn Abdul-Rahman (712-785 AD), gained recognition for his expertise in Islamic law and jurisprudence. His contributions to the field of Islamic studies have been widely acknowledged and studied throughout the centuries.
In the 10th century, a renowned Persian poet and philosopher, Naje al-Din Rumi (1207-1273 AD), graced the literary world with his profound and mystical works. His poetry, which often explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human condition, has had a lasting impact on Persian and Islamic literature.
During the medieval period, a notable figure named Naje al-Baghdadi (1162-1241 AD) emerged as a skilled calligrapher and artist. His intricate calligraphic works adorned the walls of mosques and palaces, and his techniques influenced generations of calligraphers that followed.
In the realm of Islamic architecture, Naje al-Malik (1290-1349 AD) left an indelible mark with his masterful designs and innovative approaches. He is credited with the construction of several iconic mosques and monuments that still stand as testaments to his architectural genius.
The name Naje has also been associated with various historical figures throughout different eras, including Naje al-Yahya (1543-1611 AD), a renowned Islamic scholar and theologian, and Naje al-Ghazzi (1678-1733 AD), a prominent historian and biographer of the Ottoman Empire.
People
Naje + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Naje 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
Naje: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Naje?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 145 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Naje 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 2,363,823 US residents.
Is Naje a common name?
We classify Naje as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 148 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Naje most popular?
The single biggest year for Naje was 1997, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Naje is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Naje in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 198 people with the name Naje, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,638 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 Naje 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 Naje?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Naje on both sides of the split. Of the 200 people counted with this name, 89 were male (44.5%) and 111 were female (55.5%). 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 Naje?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Naje is Black at 79.8%. The next largest groups are White (8.1%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Naje most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Naje in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.8% (158 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 Naje in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Naje a female name?
Yes, 75.0% of people registered as Naje 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 Naje still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Naje 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 Naje 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 Naje as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.