Niquan
African American name meaning "victorious warrior" or "powerful".
Name Census estimates that about 78 living Americans carry the first name Niquan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Niquan today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Niquan births was 2001 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Niquan. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Niquan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
78
~ 1 in 4,394,286 Americans
Peak year
2001
11 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2011 SSA rank
#11,858
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Niquan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Niquan from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 40 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
Niquan 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 Niquan 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 Niquan
Niquan is a name with roots stretching back to ancient Mesopotamia, where it was derived from the Akkadian words "niqu" meaning "offering" and "an" meaning "of the gods." This suggests that the name may have originally been given to individuals associated with religious ceremonies or offerings to deities. The earliest known reference to the name appears in cuneiform inscriptions from the city of Uruk, dating back to the 3rd millennium BCE.
As Mesopotamian culture and language spread throughout the region, the name Niquan likely traveled as well. It can be found in various forms in ancient Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian records, often associated with members of the priestly class or those involved in temple rituals.
One notable figure bearing the name Niquan was a high priest of the god Marduk in the city of Babylon during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BCE). This Niquan is mentioned in several cuneiform tablets detailing religious ceremonies and offerings made to Marduk.
In the later centuries BCE, the name appears to have found its way into ancient Hebrew and Aramaic texts, likely through cultural exchanges and the spread of trade routes. The Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism, mentions a sage named Niquan ben Yosef (born around 50 BCE) who was renowned for his wisdom and teachings on Jewish law.
As the centuries passed, the name Niquan continued to be used, though less frequently, in various parts of the Middle East and the Mediterranean region. One notable figure was Niquan al-Isfahani, a renowned Persian scholar and philosopher who lived in the 9th century CE. His writings on metaphysics and logic were highly influential during the Islamic Golden Age.
Another individual of note was Niquan ibn Battuta, a Moroccan scholar, and explorer who embarked on extensive travels throughout Africa, Asia, and Europe in the 14th century. His detailed accounts of his journeys, known as the "Rihla" (Travels), provided valuable insights into the cultures and societies he encountered.
While the name Niquan has become less common in modern times, it carries a rich historical legacy, spanning civilizations and cultures across the ancient world. Its roots in religious ceremonies and offerings to deities have given way to a name that has been borne by scholars, philosophers, and explorers throughout the centuries.
People
Niquan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Niquan 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
Niquan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Niquan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 78 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Niquan 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 4,394,286 US residents.
Is Niquan a common name?
We classify Niquan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 79 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Niquan most popular?
The single biggest year for Niquan was 2001, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Niquan is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Niquan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Niquan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Niquan 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 Niquan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Niquan 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 Niquan 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Niquan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.