Nandini
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "daughter of joy".
Name Census estimates that about 909 living Americans carry the first name Nandini. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nandini today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nandini births was 2006 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nandini. 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 Nandini with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
909
~ 1 in 377,067 Americans
Peak year
2006
56 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,463
Tracked since 1973
Census
Nandini in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,121 people with the first name Nandini, which placed it at #7,248 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
#7,248
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,121 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
94.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nandini
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nandini is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.1%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Nandini 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 Nandini at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.1% · 1,995
- White2.4% · 51
- Two or more races1.7% · 37
- Black or African American0.8% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 5
Popularity
Nandini: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nandini from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 437 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nandini 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 Nandini during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nandinis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Nandini, while Virginia, New York, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nandini
The name Nandini has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that dates back to the 2nd millennium BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "nandana," which means delight, joy, or bliss. The name is believed to have been in use in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times.
One of the earliest references to the name Nandini can be found in Hindu mythology. In the Puranas, Nandini is the name of the sacred cow that emerged from the churning of the cosmic ocean and was gifted to the sage Vashistha by Indra, the king of the devas (gods). Nandini's milk was said to possess miraculous healing properties, and she is revered as a symbol of abundance and fertility.
The name Nandini gained popularity across India during the medieval period, and several historical figures bore this name. One notable example is Nandini, a 10th-century scholar and poet from the Chola Empire in South India. She was renowned for her mastery of Sanskrit and her contributions to Tamil literature.
Another prominent figure with the name Nandini was Nandini Devi, a 17th-century Assamese poet and writer. She is considered one of the earliest and most influential female writers in the Assamese language and is best known for her literary work, "Radhara Ananta Lila."
In more recent times, Nandini Harinath (1918-2012) was a renowned Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She played a significant role in popularizing and preserving the Bharatanatyam dance form and was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, in 1999.
Nandini Satpathy (1931-2006) was an eminent Indian politician and social worker from Odisha. She served as a member of the Indian Parliament and was actively involved in various social and educational initiatives, particularly in the field of women's empowerment.
Nandini Krishnan (born 1974) is an Indian actress known for her work in Tamil and Malayalam films. She has won several awards for her performances, including the National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the 2001 film "Bhoothakkannadi."
People
Nandini + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nandini 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
Nandini: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nandini?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 909 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nandini 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 377,067 US residents.
Is Nandini a common name?
We classify Nandini as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 924 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nandini most popular?
The single biggest year for Nandini was 2006, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nandini is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nandini in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,121 people with the name Nandini, or 0.70 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,248 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 Nandini 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 Nandini?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nandini appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,123 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Nandini?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nandini is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.1%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Nandini most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nandini in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.1% (1,995 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 Nandini in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nandini a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nandini 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 Nandini still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nandini 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 Nandini 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 common is the name Nandini?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Nandini on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.