Nayab
A feminine Arabic name meaning rare, scarce, or exclusive.
Name Census estimates that about 68 living Americans carry the first name Nayab. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nayab today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nayab births was 1993 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nayab. 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 Nayab with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Nayab. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
68
~ 1 in 5,040,505 Americans
Peak year
1993
9 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2018 SSA rank
#17,439
Tracked since 1992
Census
Nayab in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 293 people with the first name Nayab, which placed it at #29,959 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
#29,959
National first-name rank
People counted
293
293 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nayab
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nayab is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Black (3.8%) and White (2.0%). 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 Nayab 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 Nayab at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.2% · 270
- Black or African American3.8% · 11
- White2.0% · 6
- Two or more races2.0% · 6
Popularity
Nayab: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nayab from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 32 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Nayab remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nayab 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 Nayab during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nayabs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nayab
The name Nayab is of Arabic origin, derived from the word "nayib," which means "deputy" or "representative." It has been in use since ancient times in the Arab world and the broader Islamic regions.
In the early centuries of Islam, the term "nayib" was often used to refer to a person who was appointed as a representative or deputy of a higher authority, such as a ruler or a religious leader. The name Nayab may have been given to children with the hope that they would grow up to be trusted representatives or leaders in their communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nayab can be found in the writings of medieval Islamic scholars and historians. For example, Nayab ibn Salam, a prominent companion of the Prophet Muhammad, is mentioned in various historical accounts from the 7th century CE.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Nayab. One famous example is Nayab Khan Suri, a powerful military leader and governor who lived in the 16th century during the Mughal Empire in present-day India. He played a significant role in the expansion of the Mughal territories and was known for his strategic military campaigns.
Another historical figure with the name Nayab is Nayab Khan Baloch, a influential tribal leader from Balochistan in the 18th century. He led a revolt against the Persian Empire and played a crucial role in the formation of the Baloch confederacy.
In the realm of literature, Nayab Jafri was a renowned Urdu poet who lived in the 19th century. He was known for his powerful and emotionally charged poetry, and his works are still widely studied and celebrated in the Urdu literary tradition.
Nayab Bukhari was a prominent Islamic scholar and Sufi mystic from the 19th century who hailed from the Indian subcontinent. He was highly respected for his profound knowledge of Islamic theology and his contributions to the spiritual teachings of Sufism.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who have borne the name Nayab, but there are undoubtedly many more throughout various regions and time periods where the name has been used.
People
Nayab + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nayab 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
Nayab: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nayab?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 68 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nayab 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 5,040,505 US residents.
Is Nayab a common name?
We classify Nayab as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 70 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nayab most popular?
The single biggest year for Nayab was 1993, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nayab is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nayab in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 293 people with the name Nayab, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,959 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 Nayab 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 Nayab?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nayab leans strongly female. 256 people counted with this name were female (84.8%), compared with 46 male bearers (15.2%). 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 Nayab?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nayab is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.2%. The next largest groups are Black (3.8%) and White (2.0%). 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 Nayab most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nayab in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.2% (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 Nayab in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nayab a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nayab 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 Nayab still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nayab 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 Nayab 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 named Nayab?
Find out how many people share the name Nayab on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.