Ninel
A feminine Russian diminutive name, possibly from the Greek meaning "winner".
Name Census estimates that about 286 living Americans carry the first name Ninel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ninel today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ninel births was 2004 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ninel. 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
286
~ 1 in 1,198,442 Americans
Peak year
2004
55 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2013 SSA rank
#11,712
Tracked since 2002
Census
Ninel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 686 people with the first name Ninel, which placed it at #16,449 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
#16,449
National first-name rank
People counted
686
686 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ninel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ninel is White at 56.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (40.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.7%). 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 Ninel 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 Ninel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.6% · 388
- Hispanic or Latino40.1% · 275
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 12
- Black or African American0.9% · 6
- Two or more races0.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Ninel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ninel from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 249 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ninel 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 Ninel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ninels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Ninel, while Illinois, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 45 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ninel
The name Ninel has its origins in the Russian language and culture. It is a diminutive form of the name Nina, which is derived from the Greek name Ninnion, meaning "little girl" or "little daughter." The name Ninel gained popularity in Russia and other Slavic countries in the 20th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ninel can be found in the Russian novel "The Idiot" by Fyodor Dostoevsky, published in 1869. In the novel, Ninel is the name of a character briefly mentioned as a young girl.
Ninel Aleksandrovna Kuzmin (1932-2016) was a Soviet and Russian actress who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout her career. She was a recipient of the prestigious People's Artist of the USSR award.
Ninel Ivanovna Stepanova (1962-) is a former Soviet and Russian athlete who specialized in hurdling events. She won a gold medal in the 60m hurdles at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
Ninel Kadyrova (1968-) is a Russian actress and television presenter. She is known for her roles in various Russian television series and films, as well as for hosting several popular entertainment shows.
Ninel Dzyuba (1990-) is a Russian singer and songwriter. She gained popularity as a member of the girl group Fabrika and later pursued a successful solo career, releasing several albums and singles.
Ninel Semyonovna Kuznetsova (1932-2005) was a Soviet and Russian actress who appeared in numerous films and stage productions during her career spanning over six decades. She was a recipient of the People's Artist of the USSR award.
People
Ninel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ninel 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
Ninel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ninel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 286 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ninel 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 1,198,442 US residents.
Is Ninel a common name?
We classify Ninel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 290 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ninel most popular?
The single biggest year for Ninel was 2004, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ninel 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 Ninel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 686 people with the name Ninel, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,449 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 Ninel 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 Ninel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ninel leans strongly female. 667 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 18 male bearers (2.6%). 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 Ninel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ninel is White at 56.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (40.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.7%). 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 Ninel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ninel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.6% (388 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 Ninel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ninel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ninel 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 Ninel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ninel 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 Ninel 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 Ninel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.