Nusayba
An Arabic feminine name meaning "the pure one" or "virtuous woman".
Name Census estimates that about 162 living Americans carry the first name Nusayba. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nusayba today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nusayba births was 2024 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nusayba. 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 Nusayba with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
162
~ 1 in 2,115,768 Americans
Peak year
2024
18 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,554
Tracked since 2008
Popularity
Nusayba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nusayba 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 91 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nusayba remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nusayba 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 Nusayba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nusaybas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Nusayba
The name Nusayba has its origins in the Arabic language and is believed to have derived from the word "nusaybah," which means "a small female gazelle." This name was likely coined in the Arabian Peninsula during the pre-Islamic era, when the region's inhabitants drew inspiration from their natural surroundings and the desert wildlife for naming conventions.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Nusayba appears in Islamic history, referring to a renowned figure, Nusaybah bint Ka'b al-Ansariyah. She was a prominent companion of the Prophet Muhammad and is celebrated for her bravery during the Battle of Uhud in 625 CE, where she defended the Prophet and sustained multiple injuries while fending off enemy attacks.
Throughout Islamic history, several notable women bore the name Nusayba. One such figure was Nusayba bint Abdul Rahman al-Ghamidi, a renowned scholar of hadith (the recorded sayings and traditions of Prophet Muhammad) who lived in the 7th century CE in Medina. Her expertise in hadith studies earned her recognition among Islamic scholars of her time.
In the realm of literature, the name Nusayba appears in the works of renowned Arab poets and writers. For instance, the 9th-century Arabic poet and philosopher, Abu al-Atahiya, mentioned a woman named Nusayba in one of his poems, praising her beauty and grace.
Historically, the name Nusayba was also popular among the Arabized populations of the Iberian Peninsula during the era of Muslim rule in Spain, known as Al-Andalus (711-1492 CE). Records from this period indicate the presence of several women named Nusayba, who contributed to the rich cultural and intellectual milieu of the time.
Another notable figure bearing the name Nusayba was Nusayba bint Hassan al-Sulami, a 10th-century scholar and poet from Baghdad, who was renowned for her expertise in Arabic language and literature. Her poetic works were widely celebrated and studied in academic circles of the Abbasid Caliphate.
While the name Nusayba has its roots in the Arabic language and Islamic tradition, it has also transcended cultural boundaries and found its way into various regions and communities over the centuries, reflecting the rich tapestry of human diversity and cultural exchange.
People
Nusayba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nusayba 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
Nusayba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nusayba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 162 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nusayba 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 2,115,768 US residents.
Is Nusayba a common name?
We classify Nusayba as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 163 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nusayba most popular?
The single biggest year for Nusayba was 2024, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nusayba is about 8 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 Nusayba in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nusayba a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nusayba 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 Nusayba still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nusayba 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 Nusayba 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 Nusayba?
See how many people share the name Nusayba on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.