Nalini
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "lotus" or "water lily".
Name Census estimates that about 335 living Americans carry the first name Nalini. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nalini today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nalini births was 2012 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nalini. 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 Nalini with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
335
~ 1 in 1,023,147 Americans
Peak year
2012
19 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,028
Tracked since 1968
Census
Nalini in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,277 people with the first name Nalini, which placed it at #6,884 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
#6,884
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,277 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
78.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nalini
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nalini is Asian/Pacific Islander at 78.3%. The next largest groups are Black (8.0%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Nalini 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 Nalini at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander78.3% · 1,783
- Black or African American8.0% · 182
- Two or more races4.9% · 111
- White4.4% · 101
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 69
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 31
Popularity
Nalini: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nalini from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 99 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nalini remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nalini 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 Nalini during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nalinis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nalini
The name Nalini has its roots in the Sanskrit language, one of the oldest Indo-Aryan languages that originated in ancient India. It is a feminine name derived from the Sanskrit word "nalina," which means lotus flower. The lotus holds great significance in Hindu mythology and is revered as a symbol of purity, spiritual enlightenment, and divine beauty.
In Hindu scriptures, the name Nalini is sometimes associated with various goddesses and celestial beings. For instance, in the Puranas, Nalini is mentioned as one of the twenty-seven wives of the moon god Chandra. Additionally, the term "Nalini" is used as an epithet for the goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Lord Vishnu, emphasizing her radiant and graceful nature.
The earliest recorded use of the name Nalini can be traced back to ancient Sanskrit literature, including the Vedas, Upanishads, and various Hindu epics. One of the most notable historical figures bearing this name was Nalini Devi, a prominent poet and author from Bengal, who lived in the early 20th century (1873-1938).
Throughout history, several other notable individuals have carried the name Nalini. These include Nalini Ghose (1900-1996), an Indian freedom fighter and activist who worked alongside Mahatma Gandhi; Nalini Kilankuvalappil (1968-2021), an Indian actress and dancer renowned for her contributions to Malayalam cinema; and Nalini Anantharaman (born 1976), a French mathematician and winner of the prestigious Fields Medal in 2022.
Another famous bearer of the name is Nalini Singh, a New Zealand author of contemporary romance and paranormal fiction, known for her bestselling Psy-Changeling and Guild Hunter series. Nalini Jaywant (1926-2010) was an Indian social worker and environmentalist who received the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors, for her efforts in promoting ecological conservation.
The name Nalini has transcended its ancient Sanskrit origins and has been embraced across various cultures and regions, carrying with it the symbolic beauty and purity associated with the lotus flower. Its enduring presence in literature, mythology, and historical records attests to its timeless charm and cultural significance.
People
Nalini + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nalini 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
Nalini: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nalini?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 335 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nalini 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 1,023,147 US residents.
Is Nalini a common name?
We classify Nalini as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 345 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nalini most popular?
The single biggest year for Nalini was 2012, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nalini is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nalini in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,277 people with the name Nalini, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,884 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 Nalini 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 Nalini?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nalini leans strongly female. 2,263 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 28 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Nalini?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nalini is Asian/Pacific Islander at 78.3%. The next largest groups are Black (8.0%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Nalini most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nalini in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.3% (1,783 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 Nalini in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nalini a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nalini 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 Nalini still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nalini 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 Nalini 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 Nalini?
You can see how many people have the name Nalini on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.