Nash
An English surname derived from a place name meaning "by the ash tree" or "ash wood".
Name Census estimates that about 20,598 living Americans carry the first name Nash. It sits at #240 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Nash today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nash births was 2021 (1,607 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nash. 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 Nash with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Nash is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 135 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Nash is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
21K
~ 1 in 16,640 Americans
Peak year
2021
1,607 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#240
Tracked since 1910
Census
Nash in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,172 people with the first name Nash, which placed it at #2,064 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
#2,064
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
13,172 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nash
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nash is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.1%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Nash 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 Nash at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.6% · 11,139
- Hispanic or Latino6.1% · 803
- Two or more races4.5% · 591
- Black or African American2.6% · 337
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 209
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 93
Gender
Gender distribution for Nash
Out of the 21,211 babies given the name Nash since 1880, 99.4% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Nash as a male name
- Ranked #240 in 2024
- 1,464 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (1,588 births)
Nash as a female name
- Ranked #7,465 in 2024
- 15 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nash leans strongly male. 12,985 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 184 female bearers (1.4%).
Popularity
Nash: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nash from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 9,301 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nash remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nash 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 Nash during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nashs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Nash, while Alaska, Rhode Island, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 381 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nash
The name Nash originates from the Old English word "ænesc" or "æsc," which means "ash tree." It has been in use as a given name since the 8th century in England and other parts of the Anglo-Saxon world.
The ash tree held significant importance in ancient Germanic and Norse cultures, symbolizing strength, resilience, and the world tree Yggdrasil in Norse mythology. As a result, the name Nash was often associated with these symbolic meanings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nash can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of landowners and property in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears several times, suggesting its widespread use during that period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nash. One of the most famous was John Nash (1928-2015), an American mathematician and Nobel Laureate known for his groundbreaking work in game theory and his struggles with schizophrenia, which were portrayed in the film "A Beautiful Mind."
Another prominent individual was Beau Nash (1674-1761), an English entrepreneur and Master of Ceremonies in Bath, England, who played a significant role in establishing Bath as a fashionable resort town in the 18th century.
In the realm of literature, Ogden Nash (1902-1971) was an American poet known for his humorous and witty rhymes, such as "The Cow" and "Candy Is Dandy."
In the world of sports, Steve Nash (born 1974) is a retired Canadian professional basketball player who is considered one of the greatest point guards in NBA history. He was an eight-time NBA All-Star and won two MVP awards.
Another notable figure was Thomas Nash (1567-1647), an English poet and playwright during the Renaissance period, who was known for his contributions to the development of English drama and his collaborations with playwrights like Thomas Dekker.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Nash, each contributing to various fields and leaving a lasting legacy.
People
Nash + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nash 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
Nash: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nash?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 20,598 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nash 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 16,640 US residents.
Is Nash a common name?
We classify Nash as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21,211 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nash most popular?
The single biggest year for Nash was 2021, when 1,607 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nash is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nash in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,172 people with the name Nash, or 4.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,064 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 Nash 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 Nash?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nash leans strongly male. 12,985 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 184 female bearers (1.4%). 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 Nash?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nash is White at 84.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.1%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Nash most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nash in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.6% (11,139 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 Nash in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nash a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Nash 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 Nash still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nash 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 Nash 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 share the name Nash?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.