Nino
A masculine name of Spanish origin meaning "little boy".
Name Census estimates that about 2,239 living Americans carry the first name Nino. It is a predominantly male name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Nino today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nino births was 1998 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nino. 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 Nino with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 153,084 Americans
Peak year
1998
54 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,129
Tracked since 1912
Census
Nino in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,419 people with the first name Nino, which placed it at #4,296 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
#4,296
National first-name rank
People counted
4.4K
4,419 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nino
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nino is White at 48.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (32.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.3%). 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 Nino 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 Nino at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.0% · 2,119
- Hispanic or Latino32.0% · 1,415
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.3% · 455
- Black or African American6.4% · 285
- Two or more races2.8% · 123
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 22
Gender
Gender distribution for Nino
Out of the 2,708 babies given the name Nino since 1880, 99.2% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Nino as a male name
- Ranked #3,129 in 2024
- 39 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (54 births)
Nino as a female name
- Ranked #18,124 in 2016
- 5 female births in 2016
- Peak: 2009 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Nino on both sides of the split. Of the 4,418 people counted with this name, 3,367 were male (76.2%) and 1,051 were female (23.8%).
Popularity
Nino: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nino from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 418 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Nino remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nino 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 Nino during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ninos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Nino, while Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 66 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nino
The given name Nino originates from the Italian language and has its roots in the Latin word "ninus," meaning "little." It was initially a diminutive or pet name derived from other Italian names like Giovanni, Antonino, or Genoveffa. The name Nino gained popularity in Italy during the Middle Ages, particularly between the 12th and 15th centuries.
In ancient Roman history, the name Nino was associated with Ninus, the legendary founder and first king of the ancient city of Nineveh, which was part of the Assyrian Empire. This association can be traced back to the 1st century AD work "Bibliotheca Historica" by Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nino can be found in the literary work "Il Decamerone" by the Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, written in the 14th century. In this work, Nino is mentioned as a character's name.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nino. One of the most famous was Nino Picci (1899-1973), an Italian singer and actor who was a prominent figure in the early days of Italian cinema. Another well-known Nino was Nino Manfredi (1921-2004), an Italian actor, director, and screenwriter known for his roles in numerous Italian comedies.
In the world of sports, Nino Bixio (1875-1940) was an Italian cyclist who won the Giro d'Italia in 1914 and is considered one of the pioneers of Italian cycling. Nino Ferrer (1934-1998) was a French-Italian singer and songwriter who achieved significant success in both countries with his unique blend of genres.
Nino Rota (1911-1979) was an acclaimed Italian composer known for his film scores, including the iconic music for "The Godfather" and other collaborations with director Federico Fellini. His contributions to cinema and music have left an indelible mark on Italian cultural heritage.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Nino
People
Nino + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nino 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
Nino: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nino?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,239 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nino 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 153,084 US residents.
Is Nino a common name?
We classify Nino as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,708 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nino most popular?
The single biggest year for Nino was 1998, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nino is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nino in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,419 people with the name Nino, or 1.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,296 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 Nino 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 Nino?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Nino on both sides of the split. Of the 4,418 people counted with this name, 3,367 were male (76.2%) and 1,051 were female (23.8%). 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 Nino?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nino is White at 48.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (32.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.3%). 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 Nino most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nino in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.0% (2,119 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 Nino in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nino a male name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Nino 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 Nino still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nino 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 Nino 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 Nino?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.