Nihal
An Arabic name meaning "achieving" or "attaining goals".
Name Census estimates that about 1,000 living Americans carry the first name Nihal. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Nihal today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nihal births was 2016 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nihal. 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 Nihal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 342,754 Americans
Peak year
2016
61 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,024
Tracked since 1993
Census
Nihal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,409 people with the first name Nihal, which placed it at #9,736 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
#9,736
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,409 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
65.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nihal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nihal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 65.1%. The next largest groups are White (26.6%) and Black (4.9%). 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 Nihal 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 Nihal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander65.1% · 917
- White26.6% · 375
- Black or African American4.9% · 69
- Two or more races1.9% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Nihal
Nihal is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,009 total registrations, 783 (77.6%) were male and 226 (22.4%) were female.
Nihal as a male name
- Ranked #3,024 in 2024
- 41 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (41 births)
Nihal as a female name
- Ranked #7,471 in 2024
- 15 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (23 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Nihal on both sides of the split. Of the 1,409 people counted with this name, 946 were male (67.1%) and 463 were female (32.9%).
Popularity
Nihal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nihal from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 476 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nihal remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nihal 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 Nihal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nihals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Nihal, while New Jersey, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nihal
The name Nihal is believed to have its origins in the Arabic and Persian languages. It is derived from the Persian word "nihan," which means "hidden" or "concealed." The name can also be traced back to the Arabic word "nahal," meaning "honey."
In Arabic culture, the name Nihal is often associated with beauty, sweetness, and inner grace. It is a name that has been widely used across the Middle East and parts of South Asia for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Nihal can be found in ancient Persian literature, particularly in the works of renowned poets like Ferdowsi and Rumi. These literary works often used the name metaphorically to describe the beauty and sweetness of nature, or to symbolize the hidden depths of the soul.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Nihal. One such person was Nihal Atsız (1905-1975), a Turkish author, poet, and political activist known for his nationalist ideologies and his contributions to the Pan-Turkic movement.
Another prominent figure was Nihal Chand Ghosh (1893-1968), an Indian revolutionary and freedom fighter who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule.
In the world of literature, Nihal Atsız (1840-1905) was a renowned Turkish novelist and playwright who is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern Turkish literature. His works often explored themes of social injustice and the struggles of the working class.
In the field of music, Nihal Nilendra (1916-1989) was a celebrated Indian classical vocalist and composer who made significant contributions to the Hindustani classical music tradition. He was a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors.
Lastly, Nihal de Silva (1920-2012) was a renowned Sri Lankan architect and urban planner who played a significant role in shaping the modern architectural landscape of Sri Lanka. He is best known for his innovative designs that blended traditional Sri Lankan architectural elements with contemporary styles.
People
Nihal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nihal 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
Nihal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nihal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,000 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nihal 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 342,754 US residents.
Is Nihal a common name?
We classify Nihal as "Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,009 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nihal most popular?
The single biggest year for Nihal was 2016, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nihal 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 Nihal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,409 people with the name Nihal, or 0.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,736 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 Nihal 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 Nihal?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Nihal on both sides of the split. Of the 1,409 people counted with this name, 946 were male (67.1%) and 463 were female (32.9%). 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 Nihal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nihal is Asian/Pacific Islander at 65.1%. The next largest groups are White (26.6%) and Black (4.9%). 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 Nihal most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nihal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.1% (917 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 Nihal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nihal a male name?
Yes, 77.6% of people registered as Nihal in the SSA data are male. 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 Nihal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nihal 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 Nihal 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 Nihal as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.