Nayali
Nayali is a feminine name of Aztec origin meaning "I love you".
Name Census estimates that about 118 living Americans carry the first name Nayali. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nayali today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nayali births was 2001 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nayali. 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
118
~ 1 in 2,904,698 Americans
Peak year
2001
15 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,809
Tracked since 1994
Census
Nayali in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 171 people with the first name Nayali, which placed it at #42,203 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
#42,203
National first-name rank
People counted
171
171 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
92.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nayali
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nayali is Hispanic at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Black (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Nayali 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 Nayali at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino92.4% · 158
- Black or African American2.9% · 5
- Two or more races2.3% · 4
- White1.8% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Nayali: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nayali from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 67 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
Nayali 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 Nayali 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 Nayali
The given name Nayali has its origins in the ancient Nahuatl language, which was spoken by the Aztec civilization in central Mexico. The name is believed to have been derived from the Nahuatl words "nelli," meaning "truth," and "yollotl," meaning "heart." Thus, the name Nayali could be interpreted as "one with a truthful heart" or "one with a sincere heart."
Nahuatl was the dominant language of the Aztec Empire, which flourished in the Valley of Mexico from the 14th to the 16th century. The Aztecs were known for their advanced civilization, including their sophisticated writing system, architectural achievements, and rich cultural traditions. It is likely that the name Nayali was used during this period, although specific historical records are scarce.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nayali can be found in the Codex Mendoza, a 16th-century Aztec codex that documented the history, customs, and tributes of the Aztec Empire. This codex, created around 1542, contains a list of names, including Nayali, suggesting its use among the Aztec people.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Nayali. One of the earliest known was Nayali Tezozomoc, a 16th-century Nahua nobleman and historian who documented the history of the Aztec Empire in his work "Crónica Mexicana." Another notable figure was Nayali Cuauhtémoc, a 17th-century Nahua woman who played a significant role in the resistance against Spanish colonization in Mexico.
In more recent times, Nayali Alvarado was a Mexican actress and singer who appeared in several films and television shows in the 1950s and 1960s. Nayali Meza, born in 1964, is a Mexican actress and model who has appeared in numerous television shows and films throughout her career.
Additionally, Nayali Vega, born in 1976, is a Peruvian-American actress and model known for her roles in various television series and films, including "Dexter" and "Burn Notice."
While the name Nayali may not be as common today as it once was, it remains a beautiful and meaningful name that carries the rich cultural heritage of the Aztec civilization and the Nahuatl language.
People
Nayali + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nayali 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
Nayali: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nayali?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 118 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nayali 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 2,904,698 US residents.
Is Nayali a common name?
We classify Nayali as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 120 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nayali most popular?
The single biggest year for Nayali was 2001, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nayali is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nayali in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 171 people with the name Nayali, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,203 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 Nayali 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 Nayali?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nayali appears almost entirely female. Of the 172 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Nayali?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nayali is Hispanic at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Black (2.9%) and Two or More Races (2.3%). 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 Nayali most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nayali in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.4% (158 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 Nayali in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nayali a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nayali 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 Nayali still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nayali 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 Nayali 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 have Nayali as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.