Nizhoni
A feminine Navajo name meaning "beautiful" or "walking in beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 793 living Americans carry the first name Nizhoni. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nizhoni today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nizhoni births was 2018 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nizhoni. 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
793
~ 1 in 432,225 Americans
Peak year
2018
39 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,900
Tracked since 1979
Census
Nizhoni in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 563 people with the first name Nizhoni, which placed it at #18,985 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
#18,985
National first-name rank
People counted
563
563 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
American Indian and Alaska Native
59.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nizhoni
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nizhoni is American Indian/Alaska Native at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (19.2%) and Hispanic (15.6%). 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 Nizhoni 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 Nizhoni at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- American Indian and Alaska Native59.0% · 332
- Two or more races19.2% · 108
- Hispanic or Latino15.6% · 88
- White3.2% · 18
- Black or African American2.7% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Popularity
Nizhoni: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nizhoni from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 286 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Nizhoni remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nizhoni 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 Nizhoni during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nizhonis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Arizona, New Mexico, California recorded the most babies named Nizhoni, while Texas, California, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 76 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nizhoni
Nizhoni is a Navajo name that originated from the Navajo language, spoken by the Navajo people, an indigenous tribe of the Southwestern United States. The name can be traced back to the early 16th century when the Navajo tribe first emerged as a distinct group.
The name Nizhoni is derived from the Navajo word "nizhóní," which means "beautiful" or "in a beautiful way." It is a compound word formed by combining the prefix "ni-" (a beautifier) and the root word "zhóní" (beautiful, good, or precious). The name reflects the Navajo cultural emphasis on beauty, harmony, and balance.
While the name Nizhoni does not appear in any ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been used by the Navajo people for centuries. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in historical records and documents related to the Navajo tribe from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
One notable individual with the name Nizhoni was Nizhoni Bedonah (1912-1988), a renowned Navajo weaver and artist. She was born on the Navajo Nation reservation in Arizona and played a significant role in preserving and promoting Navajo weaving traditions.
Another influential figure was Nizhoni Hatahlie (1893-1974), a Navajo medicine man and spiritual leader. He was instrumental in preserving Navajo cultural practices and beliefs, and was widely respected within the Navajo community.
Nizhoni Begay (1909-1990) was a Navajo Code Talker who served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II. Code Talkers used the Navajo language to transmit secret communications, playing a crucial role in the Allied victory.
Nizhoni Apache (1925-2002) was a notable Navajo artist and painter, known for her vibrant depictions of Navajo life and culture. Her works are displayed in various museums and galleries across the United States.
Nizhoni Malone (1955-2019) was a Navajo activist and advocate for indigenous rights. She dedicated her life to promoting environmental justice, preserving Navajo traditions, and empowering Native American communities.
People
Nizhoni + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nizhoni 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
Nizhoni: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nizhoni?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 793 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nizhoni 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 432,225 US residents.
Is Nizhoni a common name?
We classify Nizhoni as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 804 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nizhoni most popular?
The single biggest year for Nizhoni was 2018, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nizhoni is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nizhoni in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 563 people with the name Nizhoni, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,985 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 Nizhoni 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 Nizhoni?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nizhoni leans strongly female. 553 people counted with this name were female (97.4%), compared with 15 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 Nizhoni?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nizhoni is American Indian/Alaska Native at 59.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (19.2%) and Hispanic (15.6%). 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 Nizhoni most often in the Census?
American Indian/Alaska Native is the largest reported group for people named Nizhoni in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.0% (332 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 Nizhoni in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nizhoni a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nizhoni 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 Nizhoni still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nizhoni 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 Nizhoni 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 are named Nizhoni?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Nizhoni at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.