Nazariah
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "pure" or "virtuous".
Name Census estimates that about 219 living Americans carry the first name Nazariah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nazariah today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nazariah births was 2010 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nazariah. 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
219
~ 1 in 1,565,088 Americans
Peak year
2010
23 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,035
Tracked since 2004
Popularity
Nazariah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nazariah from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 113 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nazariah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nazariah 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 Nazariah 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 Nazariah
The name Nazariah has its origins in the ancient Semitic languages of the Middle East. It is derived from the Hebrew and Arabic root words "natzar" and "nathar," which mean "to keep" or "to guard." The name is believed to have first emerged during the early centuries of the common era, when Judaism and Islam were taking shape in the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nazariah can be found in the biblical Book of Nehemiah, where it is mentioned as the name of a priest who returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. This suggests that the name was in use among the Hebrew people as early as the 5th century BCE.
In the Islamic tradition, the name Nazariah is associated with the concept of guardianship and protection. It is believed to have been given to individuals who were entrusted with important responsibilities or tasks, such as guarding sacred sites or protecting communities.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Nazariah. One of the earliest was Nazariah ben Yehuda, a 10th-century Jewish scholar and philosopher from Baghdad. He was renowned for his contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy.
Another prominent figure was Nazariah al-Halabi, a 16th-century Ottoman scholar and theologian from Aleppo, Syria. He authored numerous works on Islamic jurisprudence and was highly regarded for his expertise in the Shafi'i school of Islamic law.
In the 18th century, Nazariah al-Khazraji was a renowned poet and calligrapher from Baghdad. His works were celebrated for their eloquence and artistic beauty, and he is considered one of the most influential figures in the revival of Arabic literature during the Ottoman period.
In more recent times, Nazariah Mebarek was an Algerian resistance fighter who played a significant role in the country's struggle for independence from French colonial rule in the mid-20th century. She was captured and imprisoned by French authorities but remained steadfast in her commitment to the cause of Algerian liberation.
Another notable figure was Nazariah Qandil, an Egyptian feminist and activist who campaigned tirelessly for women's rights and social reform in the early 20th century. She founded several organizations dedicated to promoting education and empowerment for women in Egypt and the broader Arab world.
People
Nazariah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nazariah 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
Nazariah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nazariah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 219 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nazariah 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 1,565,088 US residents.
Is Nazariah a common name?
We classify Nazariah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 221 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nazariah most popular?
The single biggest year for Nazariah was 2010, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nazariah is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Nazariah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nazariah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nazariah 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 Nazariah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nazariah 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 Nazariah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Nazariah?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.