Nishi
A name with roots in Japanese meaning "west" or "western direction".
Name Census estimates that about 243 living Americans carry the first name Nishi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nishi today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nishi births was 2008 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nishi. 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 Nishi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
243
~ 1 in 1,410,512 Americans
Peak year
2008
25 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2019 SSA rank
#15,088
Tracked since 1983
Census
Nishi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 641 people with the first name Nishi, which placed it at #17,282 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
#17,282
National first-name rank
People counted
641
641 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
91.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nishi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nishi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.1%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Black (2.3%). 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 Nishi 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 Nishi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander91.1% · 584
- White2.8% · 18
- Black or African American2.3% · 15
- Two or more races2.3% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 2
Popularity
Nishi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nishi from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 129 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Nishi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nishi 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 Nishi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nishis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nishi
The name Nishi has its origins in the Japanese language, where it means "west" or "western." This name likely emerged during the medieval period in Japan, when the concept of cardinal directions held significant cultural and spiritual significance.
In ancient Japanese cosmology, the west was associated with the setting sun and the realm of the dead. As a result, the name Nishi may have initially carried connotations of transition, endings, and the cycle of life and death. However, over time, it evolved to encompass a broader range of meanings, including westward exploration, travel, and the embrace of new horizons.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nishi can be found in the Nihon Shoki, an 8th-century chronicle of Japan's ancient history. The text mentions a prince named Nishi no Mikoto, who lived during the 5th century and was believed to be a descendant of the legendary Emperor Jimmu.
Throughout Japanese history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nishi. One such figure is Nishi Amane (1829-1897), a prominent philosopher and educator who played a pivotal role in introducing Western ideas and concepts to Japan during the Meiji Restoration period.
Another notable bearer of the name is Nishi Kanjiro (1886-1965), a renowned Japanese sculptor whose works blended traditional Japanese aesthetics with modern Western influences. His sculptures can be found in various museums and public spaces throughout Japan.
In the realm of literature, Nishi Tokuzo (1886-1944) was a celebrated novelist and poet known for his lyrical prose and exploration of themes related to the human condition. His novel "Kumo ga Tobu" (The Clouds Drift) is considered a masterpiece of modern Japanese literature.
Moving to the world of sports, Nishi Kazuo (1926-2008) was a legendary Japanese baseball player and manager. He played for the Yomiuri Giants and later became their manager, leading them to numerous championships and earning the moniker "The God of Study" for his analytical approach to the game.
Finally, in the field of business, Nishi Hiroshi (1945-present) is a prominent Japanese entrepreneur and the founder of Nishi Nippon Railroad Co., Ltd., a major transportation company based in Fukuoka, Japan.
These are just a few examples of the historical figures who have carried the name Nishi, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of Japanese culture and society.
People
Nishi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nishi 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
Nishi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nishi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 243 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nishi 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 1,410,512 US residents.
Is Nishi a common name?
We classify Nishi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 247 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nishi most popular?
The single biggest year for Nishi was 2008, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nishi is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nishi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 641 people with the name Nishi, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,282 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 Nishi 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 Nishi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nishi leans strongly female. 612 people counted with this name were female (96.4%), compared with 23 male bearers (3.6%). 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 Nishi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nishi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.1%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Black (2.3%). 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 Nishi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nishi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.1% (584 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 Nishi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nishi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nishi 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 Nishi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nishi 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 Nishi 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 Nishi?
Want to know how many people have the name Nishi? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.