Nilda
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "battle maiden".
Name Census estimates that about 2,369 living Americans carry the first name Nilda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nilda today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nilda births was 1957 (118 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nilda. 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
2.4K
~ 1 in 144,683 Americans
Peak year
1957
118 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2016 SSA rank
#15,705
Tracked since 1911
Census
Nilda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,491 people with the first name Nilda, which placed it at #2,751 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
#2,751
National first-name rank
People counted
8.5K
8,491 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
85.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nilda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nilda is Hispanic at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.4%) and White (3.5%). 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 Nilda 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 Nilda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino85.7% · 7,273
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.4% · 797
- White3.5% · 299
- Black or African American1.1% · 91
- Two or more races0.3% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 8
Popularity
Nilda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nilda from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 834 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nilda 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 Nilda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nildas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. New York, Texas, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Nilda, while Massachusetts, Ohio, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 212 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nilda
The name Nilda originates from the Spanish language and has its roots traced back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to be a diminutive form of the Spanish name Nila, which itself is derived from the Latin word "nilus," meaning "dark-complexioned" or "from the Nile River region."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nilda can be found in a 12th-century Spanish manuscript, where it was used to refer to a young woman from a noble family in the region of Andalusia. This suggests that the name may have been more prevalent among the upper classes in its early days.
Historically, the name Nilda does not appear to have any significant religious or cultural connotations, though it may have been influenced by the Moorish presence in parts of Spain during the Middle Ages. This could explain the possible connection to the Nile River region in its etymology.
Among the notable individuals who have borne the name Nilda throughout history, one can mention Nilda Piñón (1937-present), a renowned Argentine writer and academic who has received numerous literary awards for her works. Another prominent figure is Nilda Fernández (1957-present), an Argentine actress known for her roles in television and film.
In the world of music, Nilda Lepratti (1909-1972) was an Argentine singer and actress who achieved great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s. She was affectionately known as "La Voz del Mundo" (The Voice of the World) for her exceptional vocal talent.
Moving to the realm of sports, Nilda Gómez (1935-2011) was a Cuban volleyball player who represented her country in multiple international competitions, including the Olympic Games, and was a key member of the Cuban national team during the 1960s.
Lastly, one can mention Nilda Pereira (1932-2019), a Brazilian painter and artist who was renowned for her abstract and impressionistic works, earning her recognition both within Brazil and internationally.
People
Nilda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nilda 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
Nilda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nilda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,369 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nilda 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 144,683 US residents.
Is Nilda a common name?
We classify Nilda 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, 3,244 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nilda most popular?
The single biggest year for Nilda was 1957, when 118 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nilda is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nilda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,491 people with the name Nilda, or 2.81 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,751 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 Nilda 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 Nilda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nilda appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,491 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Nilda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nilda is Hispanic at 85.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.4%) and White (3.5%). 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 Nilda most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nilda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.7% (7,273 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 Nilda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nilda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nilda 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 Nilda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nilda 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 Nilda 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 share the name Nilda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.