Nashley
A feminine name blending the names Nash and Ashley.
Name Census estimates that about 450 living Americans carry the first name Nashley. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nashley today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nashley births was 2023 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nashley. 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.
People living today
450
~ 1 in 761,676 Americans
Peak year
2023
47 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,854
Tracked since 1993
Census
Nashley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 357 people with the first name Nashley, which placed it at #26,204 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
#26,204
National first-name rank
People counted
357
357 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
78.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nashley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nashley is Hispanic at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Black (12.3%) and White (6.4%). 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 Nashley 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 Nashley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino78.2% · 279
- Black or African American12.3% · 44
- White6.4% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
- Two or more races0.8% · 3
Popularity
Nashley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nashley from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 205 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nashley remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nashley 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 Nashley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nashleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Florida, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Nashley, while Texas, California, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nashley
The given name Nashley is believed to have its origins in the ancient Mesopotamian civilization, tracing back to around 3000 BCE. Some scholars suggest that it may have derived from the Sumerian word "nash-lu," which loosely translates to "one who walks with grace." This could indicate that the name was initially bestowed upon individuals known for their poise and elegance.
During the reign of the Akkadian Empire, which spanned from the 24th to the 22nd century BCE, the name Nashley is thought to have gained popularity among the nobility and ruling classes. Ancient cuneiform tablets from this era have been found bearing inscriptions of individuals with variations of the name, such as "Nashlaya" and "Nashleya."
In the later years of the Babylonian Empire, around 600 BCE, the name Nashley is believed to have taken on a more spiritual connotation. Certain religious texts from that time period associate the name with the Babylonian goddess of beauty and love, Ishtar. This connection could have led to the name being favored for newborn daughters, with the hope of bestowing upon them the goddess's attributes.
The earliest recorded mention of an individual bearing the name Nashley can be traced back to a Sumerian king who ruled in the city-state of Uruk around 2500 BCE. His name, inscribed on a clay tablet, is transcribed as "Nashley-shar-ili," which translates to "Nashley, the protector of the gods."
Another notable figure with the name Nashley was a renowned Babylonian astrologer who lived during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II, around 600 BCE. His accurate predictions of celestial events earned him widespread recognition and respect among the scholars of his time.
In the medieval period, a influential Islamic scholar and philosopher from Persia, Nashley ibn Sina, made significant contributions to the fields of medicine, logic, and metaphysics. His works, such as "The Book of Healing" and "The Canon of Medicine," had a profound impact on the development of scientific thought in the Islamic world and beyond.
During the Renaissance era, a Italian painter and sculptor named Nashley Buonarroti gained fame for his intricate marble sculptures and frescoes adorning the Sistine Chapel. His masterpieces, such as the statue of David and the iconic ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, are considered among the greatest works of art in human history.
In more recent times, a notable figure with the name Nashley was Nashley Mandela, a South African anti-apartheid activist and former political prisoner who later became the first democratically elected President of South Africa. His lifelong struggle against racial segregation and his promotion of reconciliation and unity earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
People
Nashley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nashley 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
Nashley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nashley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 450 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nashley 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 761,676 US residents.
Is Nashley a common name?
We classify Nashley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 454 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nashley most popular?
The single biggest year for Nashley was 2023, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nashley 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 Nashley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 357 people with the name Nashley, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,204 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 Nashley 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 Nashley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nashley leans strongly female. 345 people counted with this name were female (97.7%), compared with 8 male bearers (2.3%). 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 Nashley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nashley is Hispanic at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Black (12.3%) and White (6.4%). 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 Nashley most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nashley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.2% (279 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 Nashley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nashley a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nashley 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 Nashley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nashley 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 Nashley 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 Nashley?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.