Neenah
A feminine name of Native American origin meaning "water".
Name Census estimates that about 238 living Americans carry the first name Neenah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Neenah today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Neenah births was 2009 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Neenah. 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
238
~ 1 in 1,440,144 Americans
Peak year
2009
16 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2020 SSA rank
#14,620
Tracked since 1949
Census
Neenah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 311 people with the first name Neenah, which placed it at #28,739 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
#28,739
National first-name rank
People counted
311
311 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Neenah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Neenah is White at 47.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.0%) and Black (16.7%). 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 Neenah 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 Neenah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.9% · 149
- Hispanic or Latino19.0% · 59
- Black or African American16.7% · 52
- Two or more races10.3% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 19
Popularity
Neenah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Neenah from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 103 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
Neenah 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 Neenah 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 Neenah
The name Neenah is believed to have originated from the Winnebago language, spoken by the Ho-Chunk Native American tribe. It is a feminine name that is thought to have derived from the word "nee-nah," which means "water" or "stream" in the Winnebago language.
The Ho-Chunk tribe, also known as the Winnebago, traditionally inhabited areas around the Great Lakes region, particularly in what is now Wisconsin and Illinois. The name Neenah is closely associated with this tribe and their cultural heritage.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Neenah can be found in the early 19th century, when it was used to name a settlement along the Fox River in Wisconsin. This settlement later became the city of Neenah, which was incorporated in 1873.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Neenah. One of the earliest examples is Neenah Hawkins (1836-1924), a member of the Ho-Chunk tribe who was known for her advocacy and work in preserving Native American traditions and culture.
Another prominent figure was Neenah Pickett (1884-1964), an actress and playwright from the early 20th century. She was known for her performances in several Broadway productions and for her work in promoting Native American theater.
In the field of literature, Neenah Wilkins (1902-1987) was a notable author and poet of Ho-Chunk descent. She published several collections of poetry and prose that explored themes of Native American identity and heritage.
Neenah Littlefield (1920-2005) was a renowned artist and sculptor, known for her works that celebrated the beauty and strength of Native American women. Her sculptures can be found in various museums and galleries across the United States.
Neenah Thundercloud (1945-2018) was a prominent activist and advocate for Native American rights. She dedicated her life to fighting for environmental justice, land rights, and the preservation of Indigenous cultures.
While the name Neenah has its roots in the Ho-Chunk tribe and their language, it has since gained popularity and recognition beyond its cultural origins, becoming a unique and beautiful name that celebrates the rich heritage of Native American cultures.
People
Neenah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Neenah 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
Neenah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Neenah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 238 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Neenah 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 1,440,144 US residents.
Is Neenah a common name?
We classify Neenah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 245 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Neenah most popular?
The single biggest year for Neenah was 2009, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Neenah is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Neenah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 311 people with the name Neenah, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,739 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 Neenah 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 Neenah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Neenah appears almost entirely female. Of the 312 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Neenah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Neenah is White at 47.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.0%) and Black (16.7%). 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 Neenah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Neenah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.9% (149 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 Neenah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Neenah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Neenah 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 Neenah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Neenah 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 Neenah 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 Neenah?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Neenah at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.