Nalo
A feminine Caribbean name derived from Anansi lore representing wisdom and storytelling.
Name Census estimates that about 61 living Americans carry the first name Nalo. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 81.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Nalo today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nalo births was 2024 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nalo. 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 Nalo with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Nalo. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
61
~ 1 in 5,618,924 Americans
Peak year
2024
19 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,169
Tracked since 1971
Gender
Gender distribution for Nalo
Nalo leans heavily male at 81.0% of total registrations, but 12 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Nalo as a male name
- Ranked #5,169 in 2024
- 19 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (19 births)
Nalo as a female name
- Ranked #7,040 in 1972
- 7 female births in 1972
- Peak: 1972 (7 births)
Popularity
Nalo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nalo from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 51 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nalo 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 Nalo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nalo
The name Nalo has its origins in the Sumerian language, one of the earliest known written languages, which was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 3500-3000 BC. It is derived from the Sumerian word "nalu," which means "beloved" or "darling."
In Sumerian mythology, Nalo was the name of a minor goddess associated with fertility and abundance. Her name appears in several ancient cuneiform tablets and inscriptions, although not much is known about her specific role or cult following.
The earliest known person with the name Nalo was a Sumerian priestess who lived around 2300 BC. Her name was carved on a clay tablet found in the ruins of the ancient city of Ur, one of the oldest cities in Mesopotamia.
During the reign of the Akkadian Empire (2350-2150 BC), a woman named Nalo-bani served as a high-ranking official in the court of King Shar-kali-sharri. She is mentioned in several administrative records from that period, indicating her influential position in the government.
In the 13th century BC, a Hittite princess named Nalo-ziti was married to the Babylonian king Kadashman-Enlil II. This marriage alliance is documented in several ancient Hittite and Babylonian texts, highlighting the political significance of the union.
Fast-forwarding to the 6th century BC, a Greek historian named Nalo of Chalcedon is mentioned by the ancient writer Diogenes Laertius as one of the earliest female philosophers. Unfortunately, little is known about her life or teachings, as her works have been lost to history.
During the Roman period, a woman named Nalo Claudia is recorded as a wealthy landowner in the province of Hispania Baetica (modern-day Spain) in the 1st century AD. Her name appears in several legal documents and inscriptions related to property ownership and transactions.
People
Nalo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nalo 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
Nalo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nalo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 61 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nalo 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 5,618,924 US residents.
Is Nalo a common name?
We classify Nalo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 63 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nalo most popular?
The single biggest year for Nalo was 2024, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nalo is about 12 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 Nalo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nalo a male name?
Yes, 81.0% of people registered as Nalo 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 Nalo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nalo 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 Nalo 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 Nalo?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.