Nazanin
A feminine Persian name meaning "delicate" or "tender".
Name Census estimates that about 235 living Americans carry the first name Nazanin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nazanin today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nazanin births was 2024 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nazanin. 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 Nazanin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
235
~ 1 in 1,458,529 Americans
Peak year
2024
25 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,238
Tracked since 1979
Census
Nazanin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,043 people with the first name Nazanin, which placed it at #12,065 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
#12,065
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,043 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nazanin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nazanin is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (13.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.4%). 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 Nazanin 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 Nazanin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.7% · 779
- Two or more races13.7% · 143
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.4% · 77
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 28
- Black or African American1.5% · 16
Popularity
Nazanin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nazanin from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 106 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
Nazanin 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 Nazanin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nazanins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nazanin
The name Nazanin is a Persian name that has its origins in the Persian language. It is derived from the words "naz" meaning "delicate" and "anin" meaning "beautiful", thus the name can be translated to mean "delicate beauty". This name has been used in the Persian cultural sphere for many centuries.
The earliest recorded use of the name Nazanin dates back to the 11th century, where it appears in the epic poetry of the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi. In his masterpiece, the Shahnameh, the name is mentioned as belonging to a beautiful princess. This work is considered one of the most important literary works in Persian history and played a significant role in preserving the Persian language and culture.
In the 13th century, the name Nazanin is also found in the poetry of the celebrated Persian mystic and poet, Rumi. His collection of poems, the Masnavi, contains references to a character named Nazanin, further solidifying the name's place in Persian literature and culture.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Nazanin. One such person was Nazanin Afshin-Jam (born 1979), an Iranian-Canadian human rights activist and former Miss World Canada. Another was Nazanin Boniadi (born 1980), an Iranian-American actress known for her roles in various television series and films.
In the realm of literature, there was Nazanin Malayeri (1937-2021), an Iranian novelist and playwright who wrote extensively about women's issues and societal challenges in Iran. Additionally, Nazanin Khosravani (born 1989) is an Iranian chess player who has won numerous international chess tournaments.
Lastly, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (born 1978) is an Iranian-British dual citizen who gained international attention when she was arrested and imprisoned in Iran for several years on charges related to her work as a project manager for a media charity.
The name Nazanin has remained a popular choice for baby girls in Persian-speaking regions, carrying with it a rich cultural heritage and literary significance.
People
Nazanin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nazanin 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
Nazanin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nazanin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 235 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nazanin 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 1,458,529 US residents.
Is Nazanin a common name?
We classify Nazanin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 239 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nazanin most popular?
The single biggest year for Nazanin was 2024, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nazanin is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nazanin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,043 people with the name Nazanin, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,065 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 Nazanin 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 Nazanin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nazanin appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,043 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Nazanin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nazanin is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (13.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.4%). 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 Nazanin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nazanin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.7% (779 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 Nazanin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nazanin a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nazanin 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 Nazanin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nazanin 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 Nazanin 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 Americans are named Nazanin?
Want to know how many Americans are named Nazanin? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.