Nile
A feminine name representing the Nile River, one of the world's longest rivers.
Name Census estimates that about 3,123 living Americans carry the first name Nile. It is a predominantly male name (90.9% of registrations). The average person named Nile today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nile births was 2021 (159 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nile. 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 Nile with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.1K
~ 1 in 109,752 Americans
Peak year
2021
159 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,943
Tracked since 1895
Census
Nile in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,512 people with the first name Nile, which placed it at #6,400 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
#6,400
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,512 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nile
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nile is White at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Black (35.1%) and Two or More Races (8.3%). 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 Nile 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 Nile at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.7% · 1,148
- Black or African American35.1% · 882
- Two or more races8.3% · 208
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 143
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 107
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 24
Gender
Gender distribution for Nile
Nile leans heavily male at 90.9% of total registrations, but 362 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Nile as a male name
- Ranked #1,943 in 2024
- 81 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (129 births)
Nile as a female name
- Ranked #10,025 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (30 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nile leans strongly male. 2,174 people counted with this name were male (86.6%), compared with 336 female bearers (13.4%).
Popularity
Nile: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nile from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 760 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nile remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nile 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 Nile during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Niles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, Iowa, New York recorded the most babies named Nile, while Louisiana, Indiana, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 55 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nile
The name Nile has its origins in ancient Egyptian culture, deriving from the word "Neilos," which was the Greek name for the famous Nile River that flows through northeastern Africa. The Nile River was revered as a life-giving force in ancient Egyptian civilization, serving as a vital source of water and sustenance for the region's inhabitants.
One of the earliest references to the name Nile can be found in ancient Greek writings, where it was used to refer to the river itself. As the significance of the Nile River grew in the minds of ancient Egyptians and their neighboring civilizations, the name Nile likely gained popularity as a personal name, reflecting the reverence and importance placed on this iconic waterway.
In terms of historical figures bearing the name Nile, one notable individual was Nile Niami (born 1966), a prominent American property developer known for his work on luxury real estate projects in Los Angeles and other parts of California. Another historical figure was Nile Rodgers (born 1952), an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known for his work with the band Chic and his collaborations with various artists.
Moving further back in time, there was Nile Kinnick (1918-1943), an American football player and Heisman Trophy winner who tragically lost his life during World War II while serving as a naval aviator. Nile Albright (1910-2001), an American diplomat and the first female United States Secretary of State, was another prominent individual who bore this name.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Nile can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the 5th century BCE. Herodotus frequently mentioned the Nile River in his accounts of ancient Egyptian civilization, cementing the name's association with this iconic waterway in the historical record.
While the name Nile has its roots in ancient Egyptian and Greek culture, it has since been adopted and used in various parts of the world, carrying with it the symbolism and significance of the mighty Nile River that played such a pivotal role in the development of early civilizations.
People
Nile + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nile 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
Nile: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nile?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,123 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nile 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 109,752 US residents.
Is Nile a common name?
We classify Nile as "Rare". It ranks above 95.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,971 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nile most popular?
The single biggest year for Nile was 2021, when 159 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nile is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nile in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,512 people with the name Nile, or 0.83 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,400 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 Nile 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 Nile?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nile leans strongly male. 2,174 people counted with this name were male (86.6%), compared with 336 female bearers (13.4%). 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 Nile?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nile is White at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Black (35.1%) and Two or More Races (8.3%). 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 Nile most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nile in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.7% (1,148 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 Nile in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nile a male name?
Yes, 90.9% of people registered as Nile 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 Nile still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nile 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 Nile 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 Nile as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.