Nashoba
A Native American word meaning "twins" or "double".
Name Census estimates that about 61 living Americans carry the first name Nashoba. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nashoba today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nashoba births was 2010 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nashoba. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Nashoba. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
61
~ 1 in 5,618,924 Americans
Peak year
2010
8 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,869
Tracked since 1998
Popularity
Nashoba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nashoba from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 34 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nashoba remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nashoba 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 Nashoba 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 Nashoba
The name Nashoba is believed to have originated from the Nipmuc language, spoken by a Native American tribe that inhabited parts of present-day Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. The Nipmuc word "nashobah" is said to mean "mid-beautiful" or "between the beautiful rivers," referring to the region's scenic waterways.
Historically, the Nipmuc people were among the first Native American tribes to encounter European settlers in the 17th century. The name Nashoba likely gained wider recognition during this period of cultural exchange and interaction between the indigenous population and the English colonists.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Nashoba can be found in the writings of John Eliot, a Puritan missionary who worked extensively with Native American communities in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the 1600s. Eliot documented the Nipmuc language and may have helped popularize the name among English settlers.
In the 18th century, Nashoba appeared as the name of a small village established by Puritan minister Jonathan Edwards and his followers. The settlement, located in what is now Littleton, Massachusetts, was intended as a mission to convert Native Americans to Christianity. While the village was short-lived, its name serves as an early historical reference to Nashoba.
Notable individuals who have borne the name Nashoba include:
1. Nashoba Bittinger (1904-2000), an American artist and educator known for her paintings and advocacy for Native American rights.
2. Nashoba Hussey (1801-1856), a Massachusett and African American woman who was a notable figure in the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad.
3. Nashoba Wolfe (1827-1897), a member of the Choctaw Nation and a prominent educator who established several schools for Native American children in the late 19th century.
4. Nashoba Mingo (1715-1789), a leader of the Lenape tribe who played a significant role in negotiating treaties with colonial authorities in the mid-18th century.
5. Nashoba Tuckerman (1865-1942), an American botanist and explorer who conducted extensive research on the flora of the southwestern United States.
While the name Nashoba has remained relatively uncommon, it has endured as a testament to the rich cultural heritage of Native American communities in the northeastern United States and their interactions with early European settlers.
People
Nashoba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nashoba 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
Nashoba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nashoba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 61 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nashoba 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 Nashoba a common name?
We classify Nashoba 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, 62 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nashoba most popular?
The single biggest year for Nashoba was 2010, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nashoba is about 13 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 Nashoba in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nashoba a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nashoba 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 Nashoba still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nashoba 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 Nashoba 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 have the name Nashoba?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.