Nishka
Indian feminine name meaning "night" or "darkness".
Name Census estimates that about 523 living Americans carry the first name Nishka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nishka today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nishka births was 2010 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nishka. 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
523
~ 1 in 655,362 Americans
Peak year
2010
46 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,140
Tracked since 2000
Popularity
Nishka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nishka from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 311 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nishka 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 Nishka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nishkas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Nishka, while Illinois, Virginia, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nishka
The name Nishka has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It is believed to have derived from the Sanskrit word "nishka," which means "a gold ornament or necklace." This suggests that the name Nishka may have been associated with beauty, wealth, or adornment in its earliest usage.
In ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and Puranas, there are references to the term "nishka" in the context of ornaments and precious objects. However, there is no specific mention of the name Nishka being used as a personal name during those times. The earliest recorded instances of the name Nishka being used as a given name seem to date back to the medieval period in India.
One of the earliest known individuals bearing the name Nishka was a Hindu poet and scholar who lived in the 12th century CE. Nishka Bhatta was a renowned scholar of Sanskrit grammar and linguistics, and he authored several works on subjects like poetry, rhetoric, and language.
Another notable figure with the name Nishka was Nishka Devi, a Hindu queen who ruled over the Chahamana dynasty in the present-day state of Rajasthan, India, during the 13th century CE. She was known for her patronage of art, architecture, and literature, and her reign was marked by significant cultural contributions.
In the 16th century, there was a prominent Hindu philosopher and spiritual teacher named Nishka Shastri, who authored several texts on Vedanta philosophy and was revered for his wisdom and teachings.
Moving forward in history, in the 19th century, there was a Sanskrit scholar and linguist named Nishka Chandra Chatterjee, who made significant contributions to the study and preservation of ancient Indian texts and languages.
More recently, in the 20th century, Nishka Lulla was a renowned Indian fashion designer and costume stylist, known for her work in Bollywood films and her contribution to the Indian fashion industry.
While the name Nishka has its roots in Sanskrit and ancient Indian culture, it has transcended linguistic and cultural boundaries and has been adopted by people across various regions and ethnicities, particularly in the Indian subcontinent and among communities influenced by Indian culture and traditions.
People
Nishka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nishka 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
Nishka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nishka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 523 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nishka 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 655,362 US residents.
Is Nishka a common name?
We classify Nishka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 528 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nishka most popular?
The single biggest year for Nishka was 2010, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nishka is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Nishka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nishka 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.
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.