Nimah
A feminine Arabic name meaning "prosperous" or "high-ranking".
Name Census estimates that about 145 living Americans carry the first name Nimah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nimah today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nimah births was 2017 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nimah. 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 Nimah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
145
~ 1 in 2,363,823 Americans
Peak year
2017
20 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,952
Tracked since 1993
Census
Nimah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 174 people with the first name Nimah, which placed it at #41,801 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
#41,801
National first-name rank
People counted
174
174 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
43.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nimah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nimah is Black at 43.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (21.8%) and White (18.4%). 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 Nimah 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 Nimah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American43.7% · 76
- Asian and Pacific Islander21.8% · 38
- White18.4% · 32
- Two or more races8.0% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Nimah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nimah 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 56 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nimah remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nimah 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 Nimah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nimah
The name Nimah is of Arabic origin, derived from the root word "Nima" which means "grace" or "blessing." It is believed to have originated in the Middle East during the medieval period when the Arabic language and culture flourished.
Nimah has been mentioned in various historical texts and religious scriptures throughout the centuries. In the Quran, the holy book of Islam, the word "Nima" appears several times, referring to the blessings and favors bestowed upon humanity by Allah.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Nimah can be traced back to the 9th century, when a renowned Islamic scholar and philosopher named Nimah al-Basri lived in present-day Iraq. He was known for his contributions to the fields of theology and jurisprudence.
In the 12th century, a famous Sufi mystic and poet named Nimah al-Din Razi was born in Persia (modern-day Iran). He is remembered for his profound spiritual teachings and his influential works on Sufism and Islamic mysticism.
Another notable figure bearing the name Nimah was Nimah al-Muhtadi, a 13th-century ruler of the Abbasid Caliphate, who reigned from 1258 to 1261. He is renowned for his efforts in restoring the caliphate's authority and promoting intellectual and cultural pursuits.
During the Ottoman Empire, a distinguished scholar and jurist named Nimah Effendi lived in the 16th century. He served as the chief judge (Qadi) of Istanbul and played a significant role in the administration of justice and the interpretation of Islamic law.
In more recent history, Nimah Khalil Diab was a Lebanese poet and writer who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was renowned for his eloquent poetry and his contributions to the Arabic literary renaissance known as the Nahda.
These are just a few examples of the historical figures who have borne the name Nimah, reflecting its enduring presence and significance throughout the centuries in various cultures and regions influenced by the Arabic language and Islamic traditions.
People
Nimah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nimah 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
Nimah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nimah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 145 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nimah 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 2,363,823 US residents.
Is Nimah a common name?
We classify Nimah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 147 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nimah most popular?
The single biggest year for Nimah was 2017, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nimah 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 Nimah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 174 people with the name Nimah, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,801 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 Nimah 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 Nimah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nimah leans strongly female. 165 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Nimah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nimah is Black at 43.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (21.8%) and White (18.4%). 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 Nimah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Nimah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.7% (76 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 Nimah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nimah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nimah 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 Nimah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nimah 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 Nimah 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 the name Nimah?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Nimah, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.