Niala
An African feminine name of uncertain meaning, possibly meaning "success".
Name Census estimates that about 168 living Americans carry the first name Niala. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Niala today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Niala births was 2016 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Niala. 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 Niala with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
168
~ 1 in 2,040,204 Americans
Peak year
2016
15 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,049
Tracked since 2002
Census
Niala in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 206 people with the first name Niala, which placed it at #37,688 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
#37,688
National first-name rank
People counted
206
206 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Niala
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Niala is Black at 51.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.0%) and White (12.6%). 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 Niala 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 Niala at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.9% · 107
- Hispanic or Latino16.0% · 33
- White12.6% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.7% · 20
- Two or more races7.8% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 4
Popularity
Niala: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Niala 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 88 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Niala remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Niala 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 Niala 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 Niala
The name Niala is believed to have origins in the ancient Sanskrit language of India, dating back to around the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "nila," which means "blue" or "dark blue," referencing the deep blue hue of the indigo plant.
In ancient Hindu texts, Niala is mentioned as the name of a celestial nymph or apsara, known for her beauty and grace. The name is also associated with the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, who is often depicted with a blue complexion, symbolizing her divine nature and cosmic energy.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Niala can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE. In this epic, Niala is the name of a minor character, a princess from the kingdom of Virata.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Niala. In the 12th century, Niala was the name of a renowned Indian poet and scholar from the Chaulukya dynasty, known for her literary works and contributions to Sanskrit literature.
Another notable Niala was Niala Maharaj, a 16th-century Indian queen and ruler of the Maratha Empire, who was renowned for her leadership and military prowess. She played a crucial role in defending her kingdom against foreign invasions.
In the 19th century, Niala Gokhale was a prominent Indian social reformer and educator who advocated for women's education and worked towards improving the lives of widows and marginalized communities.
More recently, in the 20th century, Niala Mahanor was a celebrated Thai artist and painter, known for her vibrant depictions of traditional Thai life and culture.
Niala has also been the name of several fictional characters in literature and popular culture, further contributing to its recognition and popularity across various regions and cultures.
People
Niala + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Niala 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
Niala: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Niala?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 168 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Niala 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 2,040,204 US residents.
Is Niala a common name?
We classify Niala as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 170 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Niala most popular?
The single biggest year for Niala was 2016, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Niala is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Niala in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 206 people with the name Niala, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,688 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 Niala 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 Niala?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Niala appears almost entirely female. Of the 205 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Niala?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Niala is Black at 51.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.0%) and White (12.6%). 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 Niala most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Niala in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.9% (107 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 Niala in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Niala a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Niala 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 Niala still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Niala 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 Niala 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 have the name Niala?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Niala, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.