Nakirah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "precious one" or "unique one".
Name Census estimates that about 26 living Americans carry the first name Nakirah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nakirah today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nakirah births was 1995 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nakirah. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Nakirah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
26
~ 1 in 13,182,859 Americans
Peak year
1995
10 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2016 SSA rank
#18,060
Tracked since 1991
Popularity
Nakirah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nakirah from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 15 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Nakirah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nakirah 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 Nakirah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nakirahs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nakirah
The name Nakirah has its roots in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "nakir," which means "strange" or "unfamiliar." The name first emerged during the early Islamic period, around the 7th century AD, when Arabic names were becoming more widespread in the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nakirah can be found in the writings of the renowned Islamic scholar and philosopher Al-Ghazali (1058-1111 AD). He mentioned a woman named Nakirah in one of his philosophical treatises, suggesting that the name was in use during the 11th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Nakirah. One such person was Nakirah bint Al-Husayn (1020-1095 AD), a renowned poet and scholar from the Abbasid Caliphate. She was highly regarded for her contributions to Arabic literature and her mastery of the Arabic language.
In the 13th century, there was a prominent Sufi mystic named Nakirah al-Qadiri (1190-1263 AD), who played a significant role in the spread of Sufism in the region now known as Iraq. Her teachings and writings on spiritual enlightenment were widely studied and revered.
During the Ottoman Empire, a notable figure named Nakirah Khanum (1550-1620 AD) gained recognition as a skilled calligrapher and artist. Her intricate calligraphic works adorned various mosques and palaces throughout the Ottoman territories.
In more recent times, Nakirah Ali (1925-2008) was a prominent Egyptian writer and activist. She was known for her advocacy of women's rights and her contributions to Arabic literature, particularly in the realm of short stories and novels.
It is worth noting that while the name Nakirah has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, it has been adopted and used in various other cultures and regions over the centuries, often with slight variations in spelling or pronunciation.
People
Nakirah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nakirah 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
Nakirah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nakirah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 26 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nakirah 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 13,182,859 US residents.
Is Nakirah a common name?
We classify Nakirah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 44.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nakirah most popular?
The single biggest year for Nakirah was 1995, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nakirah is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Nakirah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nakirah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nakirah 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 Nakirah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nakirah 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 Nakirah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Nakirah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.