Nataya
Of Indian origin, symbolizing gratitude, thankfulness, or appreciation.
Name Census estimates that about 654 living Americans carry the first name Nataya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nataya today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nataya births was 2001 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nataya. 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 Nataya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
654
~ 1 in 524,089 Americans
Peak year
2001
38 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,877
Tracked since 1973
Census
Nataya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 573 people with the first name Nataya, which placed it at #18,726 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
#18,726
National first-name rank
People counted
573
573 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
52.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nataya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nataya is Black at 52.7%. The next largest groups are White (17.5%) and Two or More Races (11.5%). 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 Nataya 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 Nataya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American52.7% · 302
- White17.5% · 100
- Two or more races11.5% · 66
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.1% · 52
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.7% · 21
Popularity
Nataya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nataya 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 249 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
Nataya 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 Nataya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Natayas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nataya
The name Nataya 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 "nata," which means "dancer" or "performer." The name is believed to have originated in ancient India, where dance and performing arts were an integral part of Hindu culture and traditions.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Nataya can be found in the Natya Shastra, an ancient Sanskrit treatise on the performing arts, including dance, drama, and music. This text, attributed to the sage Bharata Muni, is believed to have been composed between the 2nd century BCE and the 2nd century CE.
In Hindu mythology, Nataya is also the name of a celestial dancer, known for her grace and beauty. She is often depicted as a companion of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of dance and the cosmic dancer himself.
Throughout history, the name Nataya has been borne by several notable individuals, including:
1. Nataya Kaul (born circa 1330 CE), a renowned Kashmiri poet and mystic known for her devotional poetry.
2. Nataya Devi (1679-1756), a Rajput princess and patron of arts, who commissioned several architectural works in Rajasthan, India.
3. Nataya Bhatt (1865-1932), an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who advocated for women's rights and education.
4. Nataya Iyengar (1892-1976), a celebrated Indian classical dancer and choreographer, who played a significant role in reviving and popularizing the Bharatanatyam dance form.
5. Nataya Sharma (1932-2018), an eminent Indian classical singer and exponent of the Khayal style of Hindustani classical music.
While the name Nataya has its roots in Sanskrit and Hindu culture, it has gained popularity across various regions and communities in India and beyond. The name continues to be cherished for its association with the arts, particularly dance, and its connection to the rich cultural heritage of the Indian subcontinent.
People
Nataya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nataya 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
Nataya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nataya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 654 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nataya 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 524,089 US residents.
Is Nataya a common name?
We classify Nataya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 673 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nataya most popular?
The single biggest year for Nataya was 2001, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nataya is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nataya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 573 people with the name Nataya, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,726 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 Nataya 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 Nataya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nataya appears almost entirely female. Of the 572 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Nataya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nataya is Black at 52.7%. The next largest groups are White (17.5%) and Two or More Races (11.5%). 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 Nataya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nataya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.7% (302 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 Nataya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nataya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nataya 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 Nataya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nataya 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 Nataya 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 Nataya?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.