Nilo
Variant of Nilo of Greco-Latin origin meaning either "dark" or "from the Nile" river.
Name Census estimates that about 320 living Americans carry the first name Nilo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nilo today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nilo births was 2024 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nilo. 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 Nilo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
320
~ 1 in 1,071,107 Americans
Peak year
2024
31 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,655
Tracked since 1917
Census
Nilo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,196 people with the first name Nilo, which placed it at #10,931 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
#10,931
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,196 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
42.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nilo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nilo is Hispanic at 42.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (42.3%) and White (10.4%). 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 Nilo 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 Nilo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino42.5% · 508
- Asian and Pacific Islander42.3% · 506
- White10.4% · 124
- Black or African American3.0% · 36
- Two or more races1.5% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Popularity
Nilo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nilo from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 120 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nilo 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 Nilo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nilos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nilo
The name Nilo is of Latin origin, derived from the word "Nilus," which refers to the Nile River in Egypt. This connection suggests that the name may have originated among ancient Roman or Greek communities with ties to Egypt or the Mediterranean region.
The Nile River played a vital role in the development of ancient Egyptian civilization, and it is possible that the name Nilo was initially used to honor or pay tribute to this significant geographical feature. Alternatively, the name may have been given to individuals who lived near or were associated with the Nile River.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Nilo can be found in ancient Roman texts, where it was occasionally used as a masculine name. However, its usage appears to have been relatively uncommon during this period.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Nilo. One such figure was Nilo of Ancyra, a 5th-century Christian monk and church historian from Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Another was Nilo the Younger, an 11th-century Byzantine monk and saint who established several monasteries in Italy.
During the Renaissance period, the name Nilo gained some popularity in Italy, particularly in artistic and literary circles. One notable figure from this era was Nilo d'Arezzo (1395-1473), an Italian painter and sculptor known for his contributions to the early Renaissance style.
In the 19th century, the name Nilo was occasionally used in Latin American countries, possibly influenced by the region's Spanish and Portuguese colonial heritage. For example, Nilo Jesús Fabra (1843-1905) was a Venezuelan lawyer and politician who served as the President of Venezuela from 1899 to 1900.
Another noteworthy individual with the name Nilo was Nilo Peçanha (1867-1924), a Brazilian politician and military officer who served as the President of Brazil from 1909 to 1910.
While the name Nilo has had a relatively limited usage throughout history, it has been carried by individuals from various cultural and geographical backgrounds, often with connections to the ancient Mediterranean world or Latin American regions. Its association with the Nile River and the rich history of ancient Egypt has contributed to its enduring appeal and significance.
People
Nilo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nilo 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
Nilo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nilo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 320 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nilo 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 1,071,107 US residents.
Is Nilo a common name?
We classify Nilo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 375 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nilo most popular?
The single biggest year for Nilo was 2024, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nilo is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nilo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,196 people with the name Nilo, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,931 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 Nilo 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 Nilo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nilo leans strongly male. 1,148 people counted with this name were male (95.7%), compared with 51 female bearers (4.3%). 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 Nilo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nilo is Hispanic at 42.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (42.3%) and White (10.4%). 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 Nilo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nilo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.5% (508 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 Nilo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nilo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nilo 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 Nilo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nilo 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 Nilo 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 are named Nilo?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.