Najee
Arabic name meaning "successful" or "prosperous".
Name Census estimates that about 3,086 living Americans carry the first name Najee. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Najee today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Najee births was 1993 (245 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Najee. 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
3.1K
~ 1 in 111,068 Americans
Peak year
1993
245 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,944
Tracked since 1977
Census
Najee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,326 people with the first name Najee, which placed it at #6,777 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
#6,777
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,326 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
85.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Najee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Najee is Black at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.7%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Najee 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 Najee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American85.1% · 1,979
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 132
- Two or more races5.6% · 130
- White2.6% · 60
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Najee
Najee leans heavily male at 86.8% of total registrations, but 417 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Najee as a male name
- Ranked #3,944 in 2024
- 28 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1993 (217 births)
Najee as a female name
- Ranked #16,287 in 2012
- 6 female births in 2012
- Peak: 1995 (37 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Najee leans strongly male. 1,980 people counted with this name were male (85.4%), compared with 339 female bearers (14.6%).
Popularity
Najee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Najee from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,692 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
Najee 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 Najee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Najees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Najee, while South Carolina, Alabama, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 96 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Najee
The name Najee has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, dating back to the 7th century CE. It is derived from the Arabic word "naji," which means "successful" or "prosperous." This name was popularized during the Islamic Golden Age, a period of great intellectual and cultural advancement in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded usages of the name Najee can be found in the Quran, the sacred text of Islam. In the Quran, the word "naji" is used to describe those who have attained salvation and success in the afterlife. This association with success and prosperity likely contributed to the name's popularity among Arabic-speaking communities.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Najee. One of the earliest was Najee ibn Miqdaam, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and a revered Islamic scholar who lived in the 7th century CE. Another prominent figure was Najee al-Deen al-Tusi, a renowned Persian polymath and philosopher who lived in the 13th century CE and made significant contributions to the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and theology.
In the realm of literature, the name Najee was borne by Najee al-Maamouni, a celebrated Arabic poet and writer who lived in the 9th century CE. His works are considered among the finest examples of Arabic poetry from the Abbasid period.
Moving to more modern times, Najee Rasheed is an American jazz saxophonist and composer who was born in 1957. He is known for his smooth and soulful sound, and his albums have received critical acclaim and commercial success.
Another notable individual with the name Najee is Najee Monique De Tiege, a Canadian actress and model who was born in 1974. She has appeared in several television shows and films, including "The Best Man Holiday" and "Scandal."
Najee is a name that carries a rich historical and cultural significance, rooted in the Arabic language and Islamic tradition. Its association with success and prosperity has endured throughout the centuries, making it a popular choice for parents seeking a name that conveys positive attributes for their children.
People
Najee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Najee 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
Najee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Najee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,086 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Najee 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 111,068 US residents.
Is Najee a common name?
We classify Najee as "Rare". It ranks above 95.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,155 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Najee most popular?
The single biggest year for Najee was 1993, when 245 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Najee 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 Najee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,326 people with the name Najee, or 0.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,777 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 Najee 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 Najee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Najee leans strongly male. 1,980 people counted with this name were male (85.4%), compared with 339 female bearers (14.6%). 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 Najee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Najee is Black at 85.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.7%) and Two or More Races (5.6%). 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 Najee most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Najee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.1% (1,979 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 Najee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Najee a male name?
Yes, 86.8% of people registered as Najee 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 Najee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Najee 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 Najee 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 Najee?
You can see how many people share the name Najee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.