Nason
A masculine name derived from the Hebrew "Nathaniel", meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 552 living Americans carry the first name Nason. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nason today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nason births was 2015 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nason. 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
552
~ 1 in 620,932 Americans
Peak year
2015
31 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,561
Tracked since 1918
Census
Nason in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 527 people with the first name Nason, which placed it at #19,863 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
#19,863
National first-name rank
People counted
527
527 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nason
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nason is White at 51.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.9%) and Black (16.5%). 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 Nason 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 Nason at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.2% · 270
- Hispanic or Latino16.9% · 89
- Black or African American16.5% · 87
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.3% · 44
- Two or more races5.7% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 7
Popularity
Nason: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nason from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 221 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nason 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 Nason during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nasons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nason
The name Nason has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, and it is believed to have emerged around the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the Hebrew root word "Nasan," which means "to give" or "to bestow." The name Nason is a variant of the name Nathan, which has a similar meaning.
One of the earliest references to the name Nason can be found in the Book of Numbers, a part of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. In this text, Nason is mentioned as the leader of the tribe of Issachar during the Israelites' journey through the wilderness after their exodus from Egypt.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nason. One such figure was Nason the Grammarian, a Greek scholar who lived in the 3rd century BCE. He is known for his work on Greek grammar and his contributions to the field of linguistics.
Another prominent figure with the name Nason was Ovid Nason, the Roman poet who lived from 43 BCE to 17 CE. He is renowned for his works such as the "Metamorphoses" and "Ars Amatoria," which explored themes of love, mythology, and transformation.
In the 16th century, there was a French nobleman named Nason de Vauguyon (1515-1594), who served as a diplomat and military commander during the French Wars of Religion.
During the 18th century, an English architect named Nason Vyvyan (1707-1780) made significant contributions to the field of architecture, particularly in the design of churches and public buildings in Cornwall, England.
More recently, in the 20th century, Nason Woodbury (1901-1989) was an American painter and illustrator known for his works depicting rural life and landscapes in New England.
While the name Nason may not be as common today as it once was, it carries a rich history and significance rooted in various cultures and time periods. Its meaning of "to give" or "to bestow" has been embodied by notable individuals throughout the ages, leaving a lasting impact on their respective fields and societies.
People
Nason + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nason 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
Nason: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nason?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 552 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nason 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 620,932 US residents.
Is Nason a common name?
We classify Nason as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 572 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nason most popular?
The single biggest year for Nason was 2015, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nason 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 Nason in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 527 people with the name Nason, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,863 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 Nason 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 Nason?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nason leans strongly male. 522 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 7 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Nason?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nason is White at 51.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.9%) and Black (16.5%). 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 Nason most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nason in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.2% (270 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 Nason in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nason a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nason 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 Nason still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nason 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 Nason 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 Nason?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Nason at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.