Nayel
An Arabic masculine given name meaning "aspiration" or "aim".
Name Census estimates that about 416 living Americans carry the first name Nayel. It is a predominantly male name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Nayel today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nayel births was 2024 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nayel. 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 Nayel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
416
~ 1 in 823,929 Americans
Peak year
2024
66 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,199
Tracked since 2009
Census
Nayel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 279 people with the first name Nayel, which placed it at #30,942 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
#30,942
National first-name rank
People counted
279
279 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
44.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nayel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nayel is Asian/Pacific Islander at 44.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.7%) and White (17.2%). 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 Nayel 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 Nayel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander44.1% · 123
- Hispanic or Latino19.7% · 55
- White17.2% · 48
- Black or African American15.8% · 44
- Two or more races3.2% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Nayel
Nayel leans heavily male at 98.8% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Nayel as a male name
- Ranked #2,199 in 2024
- 66 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (66 births)
Nayel as a female name
- Ranked #16,886 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2023 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nayel leans strongly male. 229 people counted with this name were male (81.5%), compared with 52 female bearers (18.5%).
Popularity
Nayel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nayel from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 238 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nayel 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 Nayel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nayels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Nayel, while Illinois, Pennsylvania, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nayel
The name Nayel has its roots in the Arabic language and culture. It is derived from the Arabic word "na'il," which means "successful" or "victorious." This name is believed to have originated in the Middle East region during the medieval period, when Arabic culture and language were thriving.
The earliest recorded use of the name Nayel can be traced back to the 9th century CE, when it was mentioned in various Arabic literary works and historical accounts. One of the first known individuals with this name was Nayel ibn Khalid, a renowned Islamic scholar and poet who lived in the 9th century in present-day Iraq.
Throughout the centuries, the name Nayel has been associated with several notable figures. One of the most prominent was Nayel al-Baghdadi, a 12th-century Islamic philosopher and theologian from Baghdad. He was renowned for his contributions to the field of logic and his works on Islamic jurisprudence.
In the 13th century, Nayel al-Qaysi was a famous Arabic poet and writer who hailed from the Qays tribe in the Arabian Peninsula. His poetry was widely celebrated for its literary merit and its ability to capture the essence of Arab culture and tradition.
During the Ottoman Empire era, Nayel Pasha was a prominent military leader and statesman who served as the governor of Damascus in the late 16th century. He was known for his strategic acumen and his efforts to maintain stability in the region.
In more recent times, Nayel Nasri was an influential Iraqi writer and journalist who lived in the 20th century. He was celebrated for his novels and short stories that explored various social and political themes, and he played a significant role in shaping the literary landscape of modern Iraq.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals who have borne the name Nayel throughout history. The name's enduring popularity across different eras and regions is a testament to its cultural significance and the positive connotations associated with its meaning of success and victory.
People
Nayel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nayel 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
Nayel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nayel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 416 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nayel 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 823,929 US residents.
Is Nayel a common name?
We classify Nayel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 419 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nayel most popular?
The single biggest year for Nayel was 2024, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nayel is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nayel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 279 people with the name Nayel, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,942 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 Nayel 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 Nayel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nayel leans strongly male. 229 people counted with this name were male (81.5%), compared with 52 female bearers (18.5%). 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 Nayel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nayel is Asian/Pacific Islander at 44.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.7%) and White (17.2%). 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 Nayel most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nayel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.1% (123 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 Nayel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nayel a male name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Nayel 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 Nayel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nayel 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 Nayel 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 Nayel?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Nayel at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.