Nika
Nika is a feminine name of Georgian origin meaning "people's victory".
Name Census estimates that about 2,376 living Americans carry the first name Nika. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nika today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nika births was 2017 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nika. 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 Nika with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 144,257 Americans
Peak year
2017
77 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2003 SSA rank
#3,149
Tracked since 1961
Census
Nika in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,840 people with the first name Nika, which placed it at #5,847 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
#5,847
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,840 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nika
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nika is White at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Black (15.3%) and Two or More Races (7.8%). 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 Nika 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 Nika at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.4% · 1,773
- Black or African American15.3% · 435
- Two or more races7.8% · 221
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 191
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 183
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 37
Gender
Gender distribution for Nika
Out of the 2,449 babies given the name Nika since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Nika as a male name
- Ranked #12,201 in 2003
- 5 male births in 2003
- Peak: 2003 (5 births)
Nika as a female name
- Ranked #3,149 in 2024
- 51 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (77 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nika leans strongly female. 2,615 people counted with this name were female (92.1%), compared with 224 male bearers (7.9%).
Popularity
Nika: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nika from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 674 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nika remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nika 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 Nika during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nikas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Nika, while Virginia, Massachusetts, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 81 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nika
The name Nika has its origins in several languages and cultures, with the earliest known use dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "nike," meaning "victory" or "conqueror," and is associated with the Greek goddess of victory, Nike.
In ancient Greek mythology, Nike was a prominent figure, often depicted as a winged goddess accompanying the gods into battle. The name Nika was likely used as a personal name to honor the goddess and signify strength, triumph, and success.
The name Nika can also be traced back to Sanskrit, where it is derived from the word "nikara," meaning "bright" or "shining." This connection suggests that the name may have been used to represent radiance, beauty, or enlightenment in ancient Indian cultures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nika can be found in the Rigveda, one of the oldest and most sacred Hindu scriptures, dating back to around 1500 BCE. However, the name's usage and popularity in ancient India remain relatively obscure.
In the Byzantine Empire, the name Nika was associated with a famous chariot racing faction known as the "Nika Riots" in 532 CE. These riots, which started as a dispute between chariot racing fans, escalated into a violent uprising against the emperor Justinian I, leaving a significant mark on the history of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul).
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Nika, including:
1. Nika Gibert (born in 1985), a French actress and model.
2. Nika Naildzhi (born in 1963), a Georgian basketball player and coach.
3. Nika Aleksidze (born in 1951), a Georgian painter and artist.
4. Nika Rurua (born in 1972), a Georgian film director and screenwriter.
5. Nika Kobakhidze (born in 1974), a Georgian politician and former Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia.
The name Nika has maintained its presence across various cultures and eras, carrying with it a rich tapestry of meanings and historical significance, from ancient goddesses to modern-day icons.
People
Nika + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nika 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
Nika: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nika?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,376 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nika 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 144,257 US residents.
Is Nika a common name?
We classify Nika as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,449 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nika most popular?
The single biggest year for Nika was 2017, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nika 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 Nika in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,840 people with the name Nika, or 0.94 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,847 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 Nika 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 Nika?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nika leans strongly female. 2,615 people counted with this name were female (92.1%), compared with 224 male bearers (7.9%). 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 Nika?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nika is White at 62.4%. The next largest groups are Black (15.3%) and Two or More Races (7.8%). 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 Nika most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nika in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.4% (1,773 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 Nika in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nika a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Nika 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 Nika still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nika 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 Nika 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 common is the name Nika?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Nika at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.