Nessie
Alternative spelling of Nessie, a diminutive of Agnes, a Greek name meaning "pure" or "holy".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Nessie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nessie today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nessie births was 1915 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nessie. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Nessie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1915
10 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,935
Tracked since 1902
Census
Nessie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 186 people with the first name Nessie, which placed it at #40,168 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
#40,168
National first-name rank
People counted
186
186 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nessie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nessie is White at 39.2%. The next largest groups are Black (24.2%) and Hispanic (18.3%). 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 Nessie 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 Nessie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.2% · 73
- Black or African American24.2% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino18.3% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.0% · 26
- Two or more races3.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 2
Popularity
Nessie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nessie from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 50 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nessie 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 Nessie 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 Nessie
The name Nessie is a diminutive form of the name Agnes, which is derived from the Greek word "hagnos" meaning "pure" or "chaste." The name Agnes has been in use since ancient Greek and Roman times, and it was particularly popular among early Christian martyrs and saints.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nessie can be found in the writings of the 5th century Roman historian Procopius, who mentioned a woman named Nessie who was a member of the imperial court in Constantinople. However, it is likely that the name was in use even before this time, particularly in the regions around the Mediterranean where Greek and Latin were spoken.
In the Middle Ages, the name Nessie became more widespread, particularly in Scotland and Ireland, where it was likely influenced by the Gaelic form of the name, "Naomhag." One notable bearer of the name was Nessie of Kildare, an Irish nun who lived in the 5th century and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
During the Renaissance period, the name Nessie continued to be used, particularly in England and Scotland. One famous bearer of the name was Nessie Beaumont, an English poet and playwright who lived in the 16th century and was known for her translations of Greek and Latin works.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the name Nessie became less common, but it was still used in some parts of Europe. One notable bearer of the name was Nessie de Rothschild, a member of the famous Rothschild banking family who lived in the 19th century and was known for her philanthropy and support of the arts.
In more recent times, the name Nessie has been used as a nickname for the legendary Loch Ness Monster, which is said to inhabit the waters of Loch Ness in Scotland. This association has likely contributed to the name's continued use and popularity in some parts of the world.
People
Nessie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nessie 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
Nessie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nessie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nessie 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Nessie a common name?
We classify Nessie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 92 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nessie most popular?
The single biggest year for Nessie was 1915, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nessie is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nessie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 186 people with the name Nessie, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,168 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 Nessie 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 Nessie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nessie leans strongly female. 172 people counted with this name were female (93.0%), compared with 13 male bearers (7.0%). 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 Nessie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nessie is White at 39.2%. The next largest groups are Black (24.2%) and Hispanic (18.3%). 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 Nessie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nessie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.2% (73 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 Nessie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nessie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nessie 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 Nessie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nessie 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 Nessie 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 are named Nessie?
Want to know how many Americans are named Nessie? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.